Twenty Years of Forever
by Alltheginjoints
Summary: After Starfire accidentally leaves the Titans with Warp in How Long is Forever, she is surprised they have fallen apart in the twenty years she was gone. What Starfire doesn't know is a lot happened to the other Titans in those twenty years.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. And in case I forget to mention it in future chapters, I probably never will own them.

How Long is Forever part 1

The Mumbo-Jumbo alarm clock started ringing and Starfire's eyes flew open. "They day has arrived!" She hit the clock's hat to silence it and flew out of bed. Not sparing a moment, she grabbed her assorted items from her drawer: bells, decorations and the like and peeked out the door with a laugh. She was aware her friends had never celebrated before, but Starfire was positive they would love it.

Starfire crept along the walls to the common room before dashing the last bit. She dropped a package, but picked it up immediately. With the automatic door opening into the common area Starfire happily exclaimed what she had wanted to share with her friends since she arrived on Earth for the first time. "Happy Blorthog!" Her proclamation did not go heard. "Huh?"

Robin sat in front of a boom-box and tried to drown out the sound caused by Beast Boy and Cyborg fighting over the video game. Raven sat in the corner attempting to drown out everyone else with her book, to seemingly no avail. Next to her was what looked like pliers encased in a black energy.

Cyborg grabbed the controller and wrestled with Beast Boy. "Come on Beast Boy! Give me that thing!"

"Dude!" Beast Boy wrestled back, "I'm in the middle of a game Cyborg!"

"Yeah, _my_ game! Because it's _my_ turn!"

The controller passed back and forth between the both of them. Despite being a few feet away, Raven remained unfazed.

Starfire dismissed these distractions and figured her friends were simply naïve to the glory of Blorthog. "Friends, we must frolic and leap in glorious celebration for today is Blorthog: the Tamaranian festival of friendship!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg's game let out a tire screech sound followed by a crash. Starfire sent them a death look and dropped her unneeded ornaments leaving only her bell-necklace. As the two continued to fight, Cyborg fell against the couch near Starfire. "Joyous Greetings friend!" She prepared the necklace and a green octopus tentacle prepared to attack Cyborg, "I Starfire, give you this tenabula as a symbol of-"

"You are going to pay for that you little grass-stain!" The octopus tentacle pulled him back in the controller war and away from his alien gift.

A small crash, this time not the video game, erupted from the fight as a green toad jumped out victoriously with a Gamestation controller. Beast Boy shifted back to his normal form laughing. Starfire attempted to pick up where she left off, but with a new candidate, "Many blessings friend! May your ears be filled with sugar candies-"

Beast Boy cut her off and redirected his attention back towards Cyborg, "Look, I'll give you back the controllers as soon as Raven gives back my nail clippers!"

Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy back into battle, effectively cutting off his attention in that respect. Raven felt inclined to respond anyway. "Not going to happen. How else am I supposed to keep your toenails off the coffee table?" The clippers were encased in black energy and floating beside her.

Figuring the Gamestation War was too energetic at the moment, Starfire turned her attention to Raven as well. "Happiness and delight friend! On this wondrous day I wish you sunshine and funny-"

Raven shot a look that could turn people to salt cueing Starfire to silence herself. Starfire took the bait and anxiously laughed as she backed away. Raven's death look ceased but she had a problem to gripe about as well, "Robin, could the music be a little louder? I can still hear myself think." The sarcasm was sharp and precise like a needle.

Robin turned his head in acknowledgement, but made no attempt to respond to Raven. As Starfire came over to him bearing a huge grin Robin's response came almost passive aggressively. "I only turned the music up to drown out all the yelling!"

As Beast Boy and Cyborg continued to fight over the controller and Robin and Raven continued to stare each other into submission, Starfire's expression grew from one of happiness to one of sadness.

Cyborg took the controller from Beast Boy, "Whose turn is it now?"

Robin yelled at Cyborg, "Knock it off! I can't work with you two acting like idiots!"

Raven quipped at Robin, "Great Robin, more yelling with definitely stop all the yelling."

Beast Boy chased Cyborg around until finally he accidentally bumped into Starfire. Her alien strength allowed her to be unmoved by this. However, her tenabula was not gifted with the same strength and broke into segments, each falling to the floor with a ring. Tears came to Starfire's eyes, but she fought them back with a loud scream.

Robin shut off his music, Cyborg and Beast Boy stopped fighting and Raven put down her book. She had their undivided attention. "Friends must never behave this way. And especially not on Blorthog, do you wish to invite the Rekmas?"

Beast Boy gave a confused look, "Gesundheit?"

Starfire clutched her hands to her heart and closed her eyes, "In my world, Rekmas means 'The Drifting,' the point in which close friends begin to drift apart... and their friendship begins to die..."

Despite Starfire's sadness, Cyborg seemed far less concerned, "Come on Starfire."

Beast Boy understood Cyborg's thought and finished it for him, "We are so not Rek- whatever-ing."

Raven followed suit, "We are getting on each other's nerves a little: big deal."

Robin finished the idea and gestured to the others, "Yeah, this is just typical roommate stuff." He turned to Starfire, "We are not going to drift apart. I promise: we will all be friends forever."

Starfire's unhappiness faded and turned to a soft smile, "Forever?"

Before anyone could confirm the answer, Robin's communicator let out a few beeps and he opened it up to find out the issue, "Titans, trouble!"

++++++++a little bit later++++++++

As if with muscle memory, the Titans ran towards to door to be heroes. Starfire dropped her tenabula to the floor and followed her friends.

The Jump City Museum of Technical Innovation (MoTI) was famous for its blend of art and science in a collection of beautiful machines. Early aircraft hung from its ceiling while new and old computers hung around the walls. As a must see attraction for technophiles and art majors, the Museum attracted guests from the whole country.

The most famous part of the Museum was the time room. It contained antique grandfather clocks and ancient sundials. Calendars collected from all time periods and all parts of the world were on display for all to see. And in the center of the room was a small clock, small enough to be held in the palm of an adult hand. About six inches wide and twelve inches tall it had a beautifully ordained analogue clock face on the front and had a glass dome on top so you could see its inner workings. The whole thing was plated in a thin- yet sturdy- sheet of lustrous gold. With this beautiful time keeper as the center of attention, a certain tranquility fell over the Museum.

This tranquility was broken when a white light appeared inside time room and spread to form a thin disc. A smooth transition from white to black happened and caught the attention of the two armored guards watching over the room. To their surprise, a man- probably late twenties or early thirties- stepped out of the dark disc. This man was protected by a brass colored metal suit that covered his whole body, excluding his face. The brass became a black cloth around the joints to allow movement and had two crème colored plates, one of the helmet and the other larger one on the torso. He made a move towards to clock centerpiece.

The guards ran closer and pointed their laser rifles at the metal suit man. The older of the two, a man by the name of Arnie Nichols, had a policy of giving intruders one warning and only one warning, "Hey, stop!"

The man in the suit did not seem too inclined to change his course of action and responded, "Stop yourselves." He waved his hand, sent a wave small wave through the air and left Arnie and his coworker encased in ice. "I didn't journey back in time one hundred years to squabble; I came to steal." He turned back to the display and focused on the ornate timekeeper, "The Clock of Eternity: valuable in the past; priceless in the future."

An energized disc flew through the air and hit the man in the chest, knocking him back slightly. It landed on the floor a few feet away. "But for the present, you'll keep your filthy hands off of it." Robin stood poised to lead the rest of the Titans into a fight, as they gathered up on the rafters.

"The Teen Titans, this is a treat. I've read all about you in the historical archives." The man's suit opened up a two laser weapons on his shoulders, "And now you are all history!" His suit open fired by shooting two red pulses, one from each shoulder cannon.

"Titans Go!" The Titans separated and jumped down from the rafters. Robin landed on the ground and was the first to deal with the fighting. He opened his bo-staff and spun it around in front of him as a makeshift shield until the laser beams singed his staff into two pieces, knocking him backwards.

Starfire and Beast Boy came to take Robin's place, this time going for a more direct attack. As a lion, Beast Boy ran underneath as Starfire provided aerial cover with green energy beams. However, the metal suit easily deflected her attack and returned it with equal ease, sending Starfire down to the ground.

The green lion jumped at the man and let out a roar of aggression but was cut short when the suit turned let out an electric pulse, stopping Beast Boy in midair. He changed back to human form as he fell to the ground.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" Two stained cherry grandfather clocks encased in black energy flew in the direction of the metal suited man. Raven attempted to throw more object but a blue pulse sent her to the ground with her teammates.

Cyborg's sonic cannon was the next to have a go. The blue sound attack smashed into the suit and sent the area up in smoke. Cyborg let off his traditional exclamation, "Booyah! - huh?" The latter beings as a result of seeing an energy shield surround the man.

The man threw a small device with the appearance of an egg timer and it hit Cyborg directly in the chest. With a small click it started sparking.

Cyborg collapsed to the ground and felt short of breath, "Draining my power cell."

"You cannot defeat Warp. I am from the future." He threw an explosive disc to meet the disc Robin threw. Robin jumped out of the way. "And you relics are one hundred years out of date."

Warp walked calmly over to the case with the Clock of Eternity. He phased his hand directly through the glass and grabbed the apparently priceless artifact. Tapping the crème plate on his chest, Warp made another black disc appear. Turning back to the defeated teenagers and gave a small smile, "Tata Titans, I have enjoyed our time together but I've got a very bright future ahead of me."

As Warp stepped into his portal, Starfire let out a battle cry and leapt after him pushing her into the portal with him.

Robin saw the portal about to close and ran to try to grab Starfire. He jumped into the air and put his arm forward but grabbed nothing. The portal had closed and Warp was gone. Robin rolled onto the ground and looked where the portal had been. "Starfire!"

**Authors Note-** This is my first story and I because everyone else seems to want them, I would like some reviews. Anything really. Feel free to be as mean as you want, but you can say nice things as well. I do want to improve my writing both in an out of fanfiction so let me know what I am doing right and wrong.

Finally, this first chapter is taken almost directly from the episode How Long is Forever (season 2, episode 1) and I tried to replicate it almost identically. Other chapters will be totally original (at least as original as a fanfic can be). Anyway, thanks for reading

-Alltheginjoints


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still do not own the Teen Titans. I am sure exactly who does, but I am sure it is not me

And Then There Were Four

"Starfire!" Robin jumped to the ground and started looking for a sign or clue. "Starfire?" Robin breath increased as he jumped back to his feet and pointed to each Titan as he barked out orders. "Cyborg! What happened to her? Beast Boy, find her scent! Raven, see if you can sense her!"

Cyborg looked at the scanner on his arm while Beast Boy turned into a bloodhound. Raven took a lotus position and started to meditate.

Cyborg's powerful computer was the first to bring up news, "I got nothing, y'all"

Beast Boy morphed back into human form and sat on the floor with his legs sprawled, "Same. I have her scent from her being here for the battle, but after that: Nada."

Robin ran his hand through his hair and turned to the sorceress, "Raven, tell me you have good news."

Raven continued to levitate with her eyes closed and made no sign of noticing Robin talk. Almost silently she could be heard chanting, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos," and breathing very slowly and deeply.

"Raven!" Robin's voice became loud and aggressive, "Tell me you have good news!"

"Quiet!" She snapped. "I'm concentrating."

Robin gritted his teeth. "Concentrate faster."

"Yo Rob, how about you don't bully her." Cyborg stood with his arms crossed.

Beast Boy joined him, "It would be easier for her to concentrate if you weren't yelling at her."

Raven opened one eye and glared at all three boys, "Actually, it would be easier to concentrate if none of you talked."

They were all silenced. Only Raven's chanting could be heard and if it already were not so tense, the others might have found the hymn relaxing. No such luck. Robin paced endlessly and Cyborg continued to scan the ground, anxiously trying to figure something out based on the residue left behind by Warp's weapons. Beast Boy just sat tapping his foot. Any other occasion and he would have tried to lighten the mood, but he felt now was not the time.

Raven took one last deep breath before stopping her chant. The others had become used to the chant so much that they noticed instantly when she stopped. She returned to her feet and put her hood up.

Robin ceased his pacing and marched up to Raven. He wanted to apologize the instant he snapped at her, but decided to wait until she was done. "Sorry Raven, for yelling."

Raven gave a nod of approval.

"I was- am- worried about Starfire."

Cyborg put his hand on Robin's shoulder to comfort him, "Don't worry man, I'm sure she'll be soon."

Raven coughed slightly, "I am actually not so sure about that." If she didn't have their attention before, she certainly had it now. "First, I haven't been able to make psychic contact with her."

Robin mouth dropped and became speechless. This was not the case for Beast Boy, "Which means?"

"She is not currently somewhere- or sometime- that I can reach her."

Robin clenched his hand into a fist, "Could you elaborate on that a little more?"

Cyborg seemed to have figured it out by now, "Warp said he was from the future. And maybe he left and Starfire got caught in the future with him."

This seemed to lighten Beast Boy up again. "Well good! Then she will just come back in time to us, right?" His grin faded as the others did not seem to share his optimism, "Right?"

Raven shook her head, "If she was capable of doing that and had a time machine, she would have done that by now."

Beast Boy refused to give up hope, "But, we'll just meet her again when we catch up right?"

It was Cyborg's turn to shake his head, "No man. Warp said he was going one hundred years in the future." He let out a deep sigh, "We are probably dead by then."

The idea of their friend being in the future where none of them could see her again weighed heavily on the heroes. But for either reasons of hope or stubbornness, the Titan kept looking for the rest of the day and into the night. The entire museum was combed with police officers and dogs in search of the missing extraterrestrial but to no avail. Starfire remained missing.

The Titan returned to their tower 8:37 the next morning only on the direct order of the Jump City Police Chief stating: "You need rest. We'll take it from here and let you know if we find anything."

Robin still put up a fight. He thought going home was an act of submission and they were giving up on Starfire by doing that. The other Titans thought likewise but they felt Robin did enough yelling for all of them. He only stopped when his voice had run raw.

The door parted and the four Titans reentered their common room to find it distressingly similar to the way they left it. Starfire's decorations were still in a pile on the floor next to the Gamestation controller and surrounded by the bells of the Blorthog tenabula shattered from before. Seeing Starfire's things lying around the common room floor made the teenagers ache.

Raven was the first to get over herself. Encasing the decorations in a black energy, she lifted them off the ground.

"Raven, what are you doing?" Robin was brought out of his trance, "Starfire is going to want those when she gets back."

Raven let out an exhausted and melancholy sigh, "She is not coming back Robin."

"She is! She'll find a way!"

"Robin, we are dealing with time." Raven put her hood up. "If she was coming back she would have come back by now. Living in denial will not change anything."

"Change anything?" Robin was almost yelling, "We could have changed everything! We all could have done more. You all just stood there and did nothing!"

This got to Cyborg. "If you think you are the only one who cares for Starfire, you're wrong."

"You haven't give me a sign that you do."

Cyborg took a step towards Robin but Beast Boy grabbed his shoulder and signaled for him to stand down. "Robin, we know you are angry- we all are. But it was not our fault."

"Whose fault is it then?"

"Warp." Cyborg answered, "He was the one who-"

""But we could have stopped him. You should not have let anything happen to her!"

"Robin, you are being too hard on everyone! Listen to yourself!"

"No Cyborg! You listen to _yourself_!" Robin clenched his fist angrily, "You could have helped: you didn't! And now you just want to give up on her?"

Cyborg pushed Beast Boy off of him and pointed his metallic finger at Robin. "Me?" Give up on Star? Never. With you pushing all of the blame for this onto us, it looks like you are the one trying to get over your own guilt!"

"My what?" Robin was yelling now. "I have nothing to be guilty about!"

"You seem pretty sure about that." Cyborg snorted.

"I am sure! I tried to grab her and you were must sitting there"

"My power cell was drained! I'm still operating on reserve power! In case you didn't know, I need my power cell to live!"

"So your life is more valuable than Starfire's?"

"It's not about that!" Cyborg was yelling.

"It's all about that!" Robin was yelling.

Beast Boy and Raven said nothing.

Robin's voice peaked, "It about valuing your friends more than yourself."

"I do!" Cyborg lowered his voice to normal level, "But I am starting to think, with Starfire gone, I need new friends."

Robin said nothing and held his ground for several moments before replying, "That's probably best anyway."

"I suppose this conversation is about over then."

"Cyborg no!" Beast Boy gasped. "You can't!"

"He can." Robin did not waver. He was dead serious. "Maybe he does need new friends."

"Robin!" It was Beast Boy's turn to yell. "You don't have the right to do that!"

"He doesn't." Cyborg spoke calmly, "But I do."

"But Cyborg…"

"I have made my decision. I am leaving the Titans." He turned back and walked towards the door. "Beast Boy, Raven; I'll see you around." A quick glance over his shoulder was the only farewell he gave before walking out.

As the sliding door hissed to a close behind him Cyborg found himself remarkably free. Unlike the previous time he left the team he felt a burden lifted from his titanium shoulders. His now former teammates could fend for themselves without him and likewise, Cyborg knew he would excel without them.

After a quick stop to his room to pick up a few essentials (spare parts, an extra power cell and a suitcase with a project he was working on) Cyborg went down to the Titans garage and unlocked the T-Car. Throwing his stuff in the back Cyborg and getting in the driver seat, Cyborg wondered where to go.

After a few minutes of indecisiveness Cyborg decided that was a bridge he could cross later. In the meantime he had to get out of the Tower and get away as fast as possible. So he stepped on the gas pedal and drove through the tunnel to the mainland. From there, he wasn't sure but he figured he would figure everything out.

Authors Note:

First, it is worth pointing out that I will be making up a lot of the events to happen but I am considering events not directly caused by the Titans to still be canon. They will happen but they will happen much differently.

Second, I have rated this T mostly for language. While it won't be a concern for a while, let me know if you think I should bump the rating.

Lastly, this is the story of the four remaining Titans falling away from each other and into places where no one is happy. Understandably, this will not be a happy story.

Once again, thank you for reading

-Alltheginjoints


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Turns out I do own the Teen Titans. Just kidding, no I don't.

The Trinity

Cyborg had left the room no more than a minute before when Robin excused himself to go to the bathroom. Beast Boy and Raven sat awkwardly silent waiting for either to come back. An orange light on their security panel switched to blue indicating the T-Car had just left the island. To them, Cyborg had just officially left.

Robin remained in the bathroom for another five minutes before returning to the common room. The others glared at him intensely but Robin used all his willpower to ignore them. He sat down at the table and opened the newspaper. He stared at the front page but did not actually read anything.

"How could you just let him go?" Beast Boy murmured.

Robin read the headline: **'****The Next Business Boom?****'** and imagined two holes burning into it.

Beast Boy raised his voice, "How could you just let him go?"

Robin turned the page, "Beast Boy, I am trying to re-"

"Robin!" Beast Boy yelled, "How could you just let him go?"

"He did it himself." Robin said indifferently, "I couldn't make him stop."

"Have you heard of apologizing?" Raven asked sarcastically.

"Apologize for what? I didn't do anything wrong." Robin crossed his arms across his chest.

Beast Boy scratched the back of his neck. "You were kinda hard on him dude."

"What, are you two going to gang up on me now?" Once again, Robin's voice started to escalate.

"Don't try and change the subject." Raven's no nonsense voice calmed Robin down, "You were unnecessarily rough on him."

"On all of us." Beast Boy added.

"I wasn't rough on you guys." Robin folded up his newspaper.

"Still man. Just call up Cyborg and apologize. Ask him to come back."

"If he wants to leave, he is allowed to leave."

"Sure he's allowed to!" Beast Boy seemed to be running out of patience.

"But we all want him to come back." Raven sounded less enthusiastic than Beast Boy but her sincerity was unquestionable.

"What makes you say that?" Robin snorted. His arrogance seemed forced.

"Because he is our friend, Dude!"

"Because he is _your_ friend." Raven did not usually emphasize words but she felt it was appropriate this time.

Robin did not feel the same way, "See? You are ganging up on me."

"Would you stop that Robin?" Raven said impatiently, "We are trying to talk to you."

"No, what you are trying to do is lecture me."

Raven rubbed her temples, "We are not trying to lecture you."

"Yeah, we are trying to show you how much of a jerk you've been."

Robin gave a small cynical laugh, "I'm touched." He went back to the newspaper.

Raven put an impatient hand on her hip, "Could you stop being stuck up and listen if only just one minute?"

Robin let out a deep sigh and looked over the top of his newspaper. "Do either of you know a six letter word for 'Could be metal, could be legal?"

Beast Boy ripped the paper from Robin's hands, "I've had enough of this asshole act, Robin! This isn't you!"

Raven took a more conservative approach, "We understand the last twenty four hours have been tough on you, but they have been tough on all of us."

Beast Boy lowered his tone, "Including Cyborg. Now, if you call him up and ask him-"

"Can I have my paper back?" Robin asked adamantly.

Beast Boy wouldn't have anymore. He balled his fist and punched Robin's right cheek as hard as he could. Robin was used to taking punches and Beast Boy's human form couldn't hit too hard but Robin was shocked by Beast Boy's outburst and immediately went into a defensive position.

Robin stood opposite Beast Boy and both had their fists clenched. They stared each other down and tried to predict each other's moves. At times like these Beast Boy hated Robin's mask: it showed nothing and left him lost.

Raven watched them more intensely than they watched each other. She thought if they were going to fight it might get some of the pent up aggression and anger out of the two enraged teenagers. Nevertheless, if the fight came to where either could hurt the other she would be ready to separate them.

It never came to that. The single punch was the furthest they came to fighting. They only stared at each other with fists ready to be thrown but not daring to make the next move. Beast Boy's breathe was heavy and fueled by his adrenaline whereas Robin's was a product of his training: undetectable.

The red light indicating a criminal or problem flashed above and the siren snapped the Titans back to the present. Beast Boy relaxed and lowered his hands back to his side. He forced a smile as a small peace offering to Robin who felt comfortable to relieve his tension.

It was short lived. Robin became the tense leader again. "Come on. Trouble." He ran to get to his R-Cycle. Raven glided out after him.

Beast Boy hesitated if only for a moment. Raven noticed, "Are you coming? There's trouble."

Beast Boy nodded, "That's very clear."

t++++++++++++++++++++++t

Cyborg's mechanical eye allowed him to drive more skillfully than any other driver on the road. It allowed him to be the one person driving who could see and scan everything faster than the car could move. An even more impressive feat in itself considering the top speed of the T-Car.

Because the T-Car was so easily recognizable by the people of Jump City, citizens and police officers allowed him to go faster than the speed limit because they assumed he was going off to clear the city of chaos. With the heightened speed and advanced driving, Cyborg was out of the city limits within twenty minutes and on Interstate 57-N within twenty-nine.

His anger had since cooled and left him with a sour aftertaste. Cyborg knew Robin was not inherently a bad person but he if he was going to treat his teammates and friends like trash until he came to terms with his guilt, Cyborg wanted nothing of it.

His thoughts were interrupted by a chirping from his mechanical eye socket. Although Cyborg did not know the specifics, his experience as a hero trained him to recognize the signal as emergency call to the Titans.

But Cyborg wasn't a Titan any longer. He couldn't try to ignore the signal and he knew more would come in the future. It was time to commit. He pulled onto the shoulder of the road and turned to the monitor imbedded into his arm. He fiddled with the wirings and worked with the radio frequencies until he made his change official. The signal stopped.

"Now they won't bother me anymore."

t++++++++++++++++++++++++++++t

The citizens of Jump City were so very accustomed to seeing their resident heroes that usually they did not think much of seeing them in public. Even when they were fighting criminals there was an unspoken code of casualty that accompanied every crime scene.

Although it was common to see the Titans out without all five for a leisure tour of the city, it was uncommon to less than five for a fight. The citizens of Jump were perceptive enough to know it meant either a) there were multiple attacks or b) something had happened to one of the Titans. Understandably people were surprised and concerned to see only three Titans show up for a fight.

The criminal in question was a new face to the Titans. He was a tall, muscular man with long black hair and a sadistically creepy expression. Coming up his arms were two black tattoos engraved into sinister patterns. He had two powerful looking guns: one on his belt and the other in his hand. With no apparent motive to stop, the remaining Titans had a simple task- take the man down and then take him to prison.

"Come on and play with Johnny Rancid!" He yelled as he fired off a few shots. A crowd of people scattered as he came their way. He laughed, "Come on people, don't you know how to have fun?"

A red birdarang whizzed through the air and made contact with his pistol which came to the ground with a clatter. The Tattooed man growled like a dog.

"I guarantee you won't be having much fun once we take you to jail." Robin stood poised for a fight.

"Wrong! I think I'll have a blast now that I have new playmates!" True to his word, Rancid's muscles moved faster than his brain. He grabbed his other pistol from his belt and started firing a spray of shots in the direction of the three Titans, laughing sadistically.

Raven instantly threw up a shield to fend off the incoming metallic rain. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rancid pick up his other pistol.

"Robin, what's our game plan?" Beast Boy knew the shield would protect him but the paranoid part of his brain always kept him on edge.

"It seems pretty simple. He is just one man with two guns," Robin turned toward his teammates, "Beast Boy, you hit him left and I'll hit him right." He pointed the directions as a visual.

"You got it chief." Beast Boy gave a salute. Robin wasn't sure if it was meant to be sarcastic or comical, be he figured not to dwell on it long.

"And Raven, give us cover."

She gave a nod of recognition.

"Raven, drop the shield. Titans Go!"

Raven dissipated the shield and took hold of several sedans parked on the side of the road. She threw them at the maniacal man who side stepped them with a laugh. He aimed his guns at her and continued to shoot.

Raven took the fire in her direction as Beast Boy and Robin ran in closer to Rancid. She was the providing both the distraction and the cover necessary to keep his mind off the Titan boys.

Robin was the first to get close to Rancid. Seeing Robin in his peripherals, he turned his guns in a direction to shoot him. Robin was too quick for him and knocked them out of his hands. The first with a punch to his wrist and the second with a kick directly to the palm of his hand.

Beast Boy was starting to near Rancid as Robin prepared to fight. He figured the beefy criminal wouldn't be a match unarmed against Robin's quick and agile fighting style. Robin came in for a kick when Rancid brought out a final weapon he had been hiding. While it looked like a normal stick to Robin initially, he learned otherwise when Rancid hit him with it.

The wind was completely knocked out of him when it hit him and it sent him flying back. To Robin, the small stick felt like getting hit by a semi-auto and he doubted Rancid was that strong.

Beast Boy took advantage of Rancid's attention being on Robin to transform into grizzly bear and run up to fight. Beast Boy let out loud battle roar which turned into a moan of agony as he was hit by the same weapon to the same effect.

Rancid looked at the two fallen Titans and let out a laugh, "It's true what they say. You Titans are smaller in person!"

Robin ignored the quip and got back on his feet while trying to recapture the missing air in his lungs. No such opportunity was given to him. Rancid waltzed over to the Boy Wonder and knocked him again with the metal rod.

Once again, the force of the impact was far greater than it should have been. Robin smacked into the pavement.

"Nice tool, eh?" Rancid admired the rather bland looking weapon, "Guy I bought it from called it a Kinetic Nightstick."

Raven came out of a ground through her signature black energy and started chanting her mantra. "Azerath Metrion Zin-"

Rancid did not give her the opportunity to finish. He swung his Nightstick directly at Raven, effectively changing her intentions from offensive to defensive. She formed another shield, this one far more personal, to block the weapon.

Johnny took another swing at Raven and smashed through her shield like a champagne glass. "I am not sure what Kinetic means, but this thing is great!"

Both Beast Boy and Robin started getting to their feet again. Robin opened his bo-staff to help him to his feet, clearly still without much wind in him. Beast Boy held his side and his breathing was labored but he was making progress.

Raven took control of a sewer cap and threw it discus style at Rancid. He tried to knock it in another direction but missed. It slammed him in the chest and knocked him to the ground sending his Nightstick a few feet away. He let out a yell of disapproval.

With Rancid's only trump card finally out of his hand, Robin decided to take the initiative. Summoning the rest of his energy he ran at Rancid and swung his bo-staff.

Seeing this, Rancid tapped into his adrenaline and sped the rest of the way to his weapon. As Robin came in close with hit him, Johnny took a wild swing and connected with the bo-staff which shattered on impact.

Figuring Rancid was acting on instinct only, Robin took a second to plan out his next moves. Rancid got back to his feet and took another wild swing at Robin. This time, Robin was ready and ducked beneath the arc.

Mimicking his move from before, Robin delivered a kick to Rancid's wrist knocking the weapon out of his grasp. Rancid tried to reach for it with his other hand, but Robin stopped him by swiping his legs out from under him.

As the Nightstick fell, Beast Boy reached into the air and caught it. He looked over the Robin and felt a feeling of relief. Johnny Rancid was on the ground in handcuffs. The Titans minus two had stopped him.

**Author's Note:** I know this story is still at the beginning of Season II and Johnny Rancid doesn't appear in the series until the end of Season II, but I figured maybe they met him earlier. Could have been here. No one knows for sure so I can do whatever I want. And as for the Kinetic Nightstick, it is a rudimentary weapon I came up with for Rancid to use so he could actually stand a chance. Although I did not explain (mostly because I didn't think it was actually important) it is a Nightstick that absorbs tons of energy from its surroundings and releases it kinetically on impact.

As usual, if you have questions about anything: leave a review. Also leave a review telling me how this fight scene went. I am not sure how good I am at writing them so let me know how it is even if you thought it was awful.

And the answer to Robin's crossword question is "Copper." Once more, thanks for reading,

-Alltheginjoints


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I've started working on the necessary paperwork and may own the Teen Titans. But until then, I still don't own them.

Duopoly

The Titans were already relaxing on bench by the time a police vehicle arrived. Both Beast Boy and Robin were breathing heavily but otherwise seemed alright. Raven floated beside the bench meditating.

Johnny Rancid was on the ground a few feet away in handcuffs spewing out profanity which mostly went unnoticed by the weary Titans. As the police picked him up and dragged him away he could be heard shouting, "No jail can contain Johnny Rancid!" The Titans doubted that was true.

Once Rancid was dragged away, Beast Boy felt his nostrils clear up. It was early winter but Jump was a southern coastal city which rarely experienced snow even during the winter. A bakery named Hot Buns replaced Rancid's rightfully named stench with the smell of fresh croissants and maybe the scent of fresh brewed mocha.

"That took far longer than it needed to." Robin observed. "He was just a guy with two guns and apparently one powerful handheld weapon. That should have been easy."

"Here's a thought Robin: maybe it would have been easier with Cyborg." Beast Boy had intended for it be mere suggestion but it came out more cold than he had intended.

"Beast Boy, don't start with that again." Raven opened one eye to follow and keep her teammates in check.

But the words had already been spoken. Robin did not like fighting with his teammates but it was all they seemed inclined to do, "Maybe Cyborg shouldn't have quit, then."

"Maybe you should have apologized and asked him to come back."

"Maybe you should be more useful in battle and not lay on the ground the whole time."

Raven disliked raising her voice but there were times it was necessary, "Maybe you two should stop acting like infants!"

Both boys turned their attention from each other and met Raven's gaze. Their eyes looked to their shoes. They had both been acting childish. Raven had told them before that fighting solves nothing and they did not want her to tell them again.

Robin started first, "I'm sorry Beast Boy."

Beast Boy didn't say anything and made no visible movement. As far was Robin could tell, Beast Boy was completely out of it.

"Did you hear me Beast Boy? I said I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Beast Boy shoes commanded his gaze but not his attention, "I heard you."

"And?"

"And I'm starting to think," Beast Boy murmured, "maybe apologizing wouldn't have worked on Cyborg." Beast Boy got to his feet and started walking away.

"Beast Boy, where are you going?" Robin's voice was louder but not like his yelling.

"I'm done." Beast Boy turned back towards Robin and Raven, "Maybe being on a team just doesn't work for me."

Raven hurt too, but she hid it better than Robin, "Beast Boy, if you leave: you are destroying this team."

"Three people aren't a team," Beast Boy ran his right hand through his hair. "They're a punch-line." He waved slightly before he transformed into a cheetah and ran off down the street.

Robin stood up and waved back but Beast Boy was long out of sight. He looked back to Raven who unsurprisingly looked unaffected. But he knew better than to believe that.

"Three down…" Robin's voice cracked. He smiled ironically because he knew Raven would fill in the blanks.

"I am not going to finish that statement."

"Why? You know what goes there."

"Because once we say it, we have admitted defeat."

Robin opened his mouth to respond, but could not come up with words.

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven saw the police vehicle drive off with Rancid and turned to Robin, "We should go back to the tower."

Robin nodded in approval and walked to his R-Cycle. While getting on it he saw Raven start to glide away in the direction of the tower. He put on his helmet, reeved up his machine and launched himself down the street towards the tunnel.

Before reaching the tunnel he felt his stomach twist into a knot. Robin could not go back to the tower now. A slight detour was needed. Putting on his turn signal, Robin took a left even though he had no destination in mind.

t++++++++++++++++t

Cyborg's stomach growled. It was nearing lunch time and he hadn't eaten since the day before at breakfast time. Since before the fight with Warp and before all the business with Starfire he had nothing but peanuts to eat and he was starving.

And more importantly than that, Cyborg was still running on reserve power. He could go about his daily activities with little power usage but going too long without a recharge would be bad for his power cell. If worst came to worst he could just switch to his other power cell but in retrospect he figured he should have charged up before leaving, but that was already past anyway.

His eye scanned for signs or billboards indicating a nearby place to eat but found nothing. He was on a long stretch of highway that wound around a mountain. Except for a small rural community, there was little civilization within forty miles. Still, Cyborg could still be hopeful.

t+++++++++++++++++t

Robin had driven around the whole city looking for somewhere to clear his head and think. Ironically, a good drive always allowed him to this best but he was becoming increasingly distracted and needed to stop.

He came across a small cliff picnic area that overlooked the Jump Bay and Titans Tower. The Jump Bay Bridge rested above the horizon line and its reflection rested just below it. At just past noon, the city was in full swing meaning cars drove past, city workers cleared the park of trash and family of four ate sandwiches at the picnic table. It was almost an ideal day. Almost.

Robin pulled into the picnic spot's miniature parking lot and went for a walk. The little kids smiled at Robin and waved enthusiastically at the teenage hero but Robin could only wave back half-heartedly.

Robin went over to the overlook and leaned against the guard rail. Only when he was alone could he admit things to himself.

"My team is falling apart," He wasn't sure if he said it quietly or simply thought it loudly but it made no difference, "and it is my fault."

He looked at the Tower in the center of the bay. While he called it his home, it was so much more than that to the citizens of Jump. It was a constant reminder of their safety and the shield that protected them. And now, because of him it was almost empty and the city's shied was in pieces.

Robin clenched his fist. Last time Cyborg quit he came back but Robin couldn't depend on that this time. Robin took out his communicator and changed the frequency to the Cyborg only channel. He hit the call button and waited patiently for Cyborg to pick up. Robin shivered slightly as a small breeze came off the water but he paid little mind.

After a minute of waiting, a voice came on the line, "The number you are calling is no longer connected, please check the number and try again."

"Cyborg," Robin spoke to the dead line, "I'm sorry. I was wrong." Robin struggled to keep his voice from cracking even though there was no one around to judge him. "It is not your fault, it is my fault. And I don't mean Starfire, I mean our argument and your leaving." The communicator was still in his hand but he wasn't paying attention to it anymore.

Robin thought of how Cyborg would respond but did not say it out loud.

"I want you to come back Cyborg." His fist had become unclenched. "No, I need you to come back and laugh off our argument as a mistake. Once that happens, Beast Boy will come back and we can be team once more." He sighed, "And we can be friends once more."

Robin gritted his teeth and held onto his silent communicator as dearly as a lifeline but it refused to talk to him. Behind his mask, Robin's eyes watered but in front he looked as stoic as ever. He switched the frequency back to team settings, just in case.

Robin stuck his communicator back in his belt and went back to his R-cycle. He figured going back to the Tower could wait. He had to keep driving.

t++++++++++++++++++t

Raven entered the tower and went directly up to the common room to find no Robin. His motorcycle's top speed was much greater than she could fly and normally he would have been the first one back.

With Raven being the only Titan in the tower she thought it was too quiet and Starfire's things all over the floor made her feel uncomfortable. She encased the decorations in a black energy and lifted them up. Then she remembered Robin's reaction when she tried to clean up before and set the items down. She did not want to get into a spouting match with Robin after today's events.

Despite the quiet, Raven found she had a massive migraine. The pain searing in the back of her head was so great it made her muscles ache and eyes water. She hadn't had any real time to meditate seriously and the amount of shouting and ill-will among the Titans, or former Titans, had taken its toll on her mentality.

Raven glided over to couch and levitated lotus style on top of it. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of all thoughts. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted and she went into her head to sort out her confused mind.

t+++++++++++++++++t

Beast Boy ran until his arms and legs burned. On all fours, he could run much faster for much longer, but even with his transformations, he still was only human.

He didn't leave the city. No, he had gained far too much affection for it. He wanted to help the people; he just did not want to be held back by a team. It happened twice so far and he was not ready for it to happen again.

So Beast Boy stopped running, but he did not stop moving.

t+++++++++++++++++t

Robin entered the tower and parked his motorcycle. All of the slots in the garage had their own specific purpose for a specific vehicle. Robin noticed the T-Car was still not in its spot from when he left earlier. Even though it was the only vehicle missing, the garage felt uncharacteristically empty without its signature car.

Robin did not dwell on these thoughts long. He entered the elevator and hit the button for going up to the main dwelling area. The elevator in Titans tower was faster than a normal elevator but going from the very bottom to the very top always took at least a minute. Robin leaned against the wall as the lift started.

"At least I tried."

The elevator let out a chirp to indicate Robin was on the floor he wanted. Robin came out of the elevator and walked down the corridor to the common room. Once in the common room, he was not sure what to do without the others.

Figuring watching television was his only option, Robin jumped over the back of the couch and landed next to the remote. Switching the input from game to cable Robin began flipping channels.

After finally settling on an action film (Robin thought it was called Warrior in the Ring, but he couldn't know for sure), Robin let himself relax and kicked his legs out on the coffee table.

A few feet away, Raven lay across the couch but had her legs crossed and her arms together to form a pillow against the back of the couch. Despite being asleep, she looked abnormally tense and restless. Robin wondered if this was because she always slept like this.

It occurred to Robin that he had not slept in over a day and it probably would do him good to hit the sack soon. He did not feel tired but he knew he should.

A loud crash in the movie brought his attention back to the screen. The protagonist was a strongly built man dressed as a gladiator facing down a lion with a sword. The crash came from the lion knocking the hero into a pile of equipment. There were other gladiators dying in the background, but this one was the only important one.

Another crash from the movie made Raven stir from her sleep. As she awoke she did not stretch or yawn but simply opened her eyes.

"Too long of a walk to your room, Raven?" Robin's voice was abnormally monotonous.

"I was not planning on falling asleep. I was meditating."

"Just a little tired I guess."

"I guess so."

A long paused followed Raven's response. Robin was always bad at small talk. "Did you sleep well?"

"No." Another long pause ensued. Raven segued into another topic, "How long was I out?"

"Beats me, I just got back."

"Alright." Raven unfolded her legs, "I started meditating once I got back. How long were you out?"

"A few hours," Robin started paying attention to the screen again.

"Anything productive?"

"I did a lot of thinking."

Raven did not want to press but she felt he was being too ambiguous. "What about?"

Robin did not have a chance to answer. The red alarm signal shut off the television and called the remaining Titans to arms. Robin got up and went to the computer to check the crime. A relatively minor theft in a well-to-do part of town.

Raven stood up and finally stretched. "Where are we going Robin?"

"This isn't a big crime." Robin turned to Raven and looked her dead in the eyes. "You stay here and I'll deal with it myself." He started running towards to door.

"Be honest Robin." Raven said forcefully enough to make Robin stop and turn around. "Do you plan on coming back?"

Robin knew Raven knew the answer but struggled to say it anyway. Finally he managed a very simple, "No."

Raven did know that answer was coming, but it hurt more than she thought it would. "Bye Robin." Raven said with a forced calm.

Robin did not respond. He only ran out the door and made no sign he even heard her.

A red light on the computer panel switched to white, indicating the R-Cycle had left the tower. Only then, did Raven allow herself to cry. She could only allow herself to shed a single tear but it was enough. The windows of the Tower's main floors became engulfed in black energy and broke outward.

Raven put up her hood and silently tried to regain control of her powers. She focused and suppressed her anger and her sadness and only allowed herself to focus.

This focus was lost when the Tower's alert signaled again. She glided over to the computer to discover the trouble was a large monster spotted on the outskirts of the city.

Raven hesitated. She wasn't sure if she was ready to go fight alone. But she needed to get out and be like the others. Raven had fought herself back into a state of calm and glided out the hole she made in the window. As the last person to leave, Raven finally knew: the Teen Titans were no more.

**Author's Note:** I really hope this did not descend into cheesy melodrama. Let me know if it did. And now that all the Titans have left, if you have any questions on the order they left, also let me know.

Other notes,

Yes, the movie Robin is supposed to be watching is Gladiator or something similar.

Yes, you should review even if you want to take a massive dump on my writing.

No, there is not a prize for guessing the giant monster (because it might be obvious if you think about the chronology).

As always, thanks for reading,

-Alltheginjoints


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Teen Titans, I own it not

Light Switch

The midafternoon sun always reflected off of the water in the southern part of the bay making shadows and lights dance about the stony crevasses. This area, just a few miles outside of the city was considered one of the most beautiful and dangerous parts of western United States. Beautiful because of the sunlight, the calm city backdrop behind a series of canyons was a sight most people only imagined or saw in photographs. And dangerous because it attracted many cocky rock climbers and cavers who found it tougher than imagined.

Raven's flight over to the gorge was less than a two minutes from the Tower but was long enough to allow her to collect herself. She landed on the gorge to see exactly what type of large monster people had reported seeing.

Running through the cannon was a large scorpion easily thirty five feet high from the bottom of its feet to the top of its stinger. Black as night and covered with probably a foot of thick armor it ran directly through any obstacle, be it rock or otherwise, to reach its prey.

Its prey was a girl about Raven's age with long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She wore blue denim short, a bicolored long sleeve shirt and a pair of brown gloves. Her long hair was kept in check by sky blue butterfly clip.

Raven arrived in time to see the scorpion rear up its stinger and smash it down on the girl. Although she was able to dodge the attack, it hit the ground with enough force to knock the girl off of her feet and her clip out of her hair. The girl reached for the clip but another attack from the scorpion left her stranded. Her only option was to get back to her feet and keep running.

Raven figured now was a good time to intervene. Raven turned to the rock spire beside her and lifted it above her head. Using her hands as guides she threw the stones which smashed into the face of the monster. Its attention left the girl and turned to Raven. It began to charge in her direction.

"What are you doing?" The girl yelled.

Raven summoned another rock spire and threw it, "Saving you from this thing." The scorpion monster charged through the boulder as it were no more than a pebble. Raven turned back to the girl, "You should probably go back to running."

The blonde haired girl took the advice and started running, "I had this under control!"

Raven decided to take her own advice and started following the girl away from the giant monster, "I'll bet." She launched another boulder but the creature did not take any hints.

"Really!" The blonde haired girl stopped in front of the creature and held her hands out straight and let out a yell.

Raven heard this yell and was sure the monster had attacked the girl. However, this sentiment changed when the creature let out a screech as well. Raven turned around and saw the girl, eyes glowing yellow and arms extended, willing the walls of the gorge to fall in.

Piece by piece the arachnid was slowly crushed by falling stones and Raven could only be impressed. But as the monster fall under more rubble, the blonde hair girl started to appear more strained. Her arms and legs wobbled and her voice started to ripple.

Although the rocks piled on more, the monster was still moving. Not allowing it to have the opportunity to get up Raven chanted her phrase and encased the walls in black energy. Following the lead of the blonde haired girl, Raven made the wall fall in on the scorpion.

The girl finally gave in. Her eyes returned to normal and her arms fell down and grabbed her knees. Her work was done, but it was irrelevant from that point on because the scorpion could do little more than flinch.

Raven stopped when she felt comfortable and turned to the girl. Still bent over from stress, the girl lifted one arm and gave Raven a very exhausted thumbs up. "Told you I had it all under control."

t++++++++++++++++++t

Cyborg was not entirely sure if he was still on Earth. For all he knew, he stepped out of the Titans and into heaven. And what did Cyborg know? For all he knew, heaven actually was a suburban barbeque restaurant.

The restaurant, named The Hungry Marine, was a staple of the local diet. It was rare to find someone in the town who had not eaten there in the last six months. It had its own micro-brewery in the back which supplied the town's only beer: Mariner's Classic. Richie Blake, the owner and former marine himself, took pride in its simple small town aesthetics and local legend status.

It was these exact qualities that lead Cyborg to the Hungry Marine. Upon his first sights of civilization he pulled over and asked the first person he saw, "Is there anywhere to eat around here?" and naturally he was directed to the Marine.

When asked how to find it, they told him, "Just look for the only full parking lot in town." Not a town with many parking lots to begin with, Cyborg found his own personal heaven within two minutes.

Despite the full parking lot, the restaurant was not even remotely close to being full (much to Cyborg's relief) and they were able to find him a table quickly. Taking his seat and looking at the menu, Cyborg decided to play it safe and order one of everything on the menu. And that was how Cyborg had found his way into heaven.

Cyborg was halfway through his brisket sandwich when he noticed people staring at him. Naturally he understood people were not used to seeing someone eating so much so quickly but he paid those people little mind and finished his sandwich.

Only when his waiter brought him his next victim (a plate of ribs) did Cyborg realize people, including his waiter, were not stating at his food but at him. Once he left Jump City, where people were used to seeing him and the other Titans, people felt uncomfortable around him.

Cyborg lost his appetite. He called over his waiter, "I'll take another glass of water."

"Sure thing." The waiter started to walk away.

"And when you come back, bring my check." Cyborg looked down as his uneaten plate of ribs, "I've had enough."

t+++++++++++++++++++++++t

The scorpion monster twitched on the ground for several minutes once finally immobile. Raven and the new girl watched it like a recently built campfire and reverently admired their hard work. Once it stopped moving and was clear it was not going to get up did they finally relax.

"Thanks for the help there!" The blonde haired girl punched Raven on the shoulder, which made Raven shirk back an inch, "I'm Terra."

Raven used her powers to put her hood up, "I'm Raven."

"I thought I recognized you!" Terra jumped up with overdramatic triumph, "You're one the Teen Titans!"

"Was."

"Oh, did you quit?"

"We broke up not too long ago." Raven figured it was a bit of an understatement considering they broke up earlier that day.

"Oh." An uncomfortable silence fall over the pair. "Sorry for bringing it up."

"It's alright. It is in the past and there is no sense worrying over it." Knowing there was nothing more to do, Raven turned and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Terra said to Raven's backside.

"To go find somewhere to sleep tonight."

Terra ran up to Raven and grabbed her shoulder, "I've been crashing in a cave on the other side of the hill." Terra had found Raven's attention. "It's not really mine, but you are welcome to stay there with me for a while."

"Is that where you met…" Raven trailed off and gestured to the dead scorpion.

"Nah, it was a bit closer to the city and I decided to help out."

Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway, what do you say?"

Raven considered for a moment but seemed unconvinced.

"I even have a flashlight." Terra teased.

"Alright." Raven sighed, "But only until I can find somewhere else."

Terra did small victory dance.

t+++++++++++++++++++t

Robin entered the apartment through window being extra careful nobody could see him go in. Once inside, he shut the window, closed the curtains and scanned for anything out of the ordinary. Without the sunlight, the single room apartment was dark and inhospitable.

Robin navigated over to the light switch and flipped the lights up. Once the room was illuminated, Robin was fully able to survey the room. It was almost entirely bare, with only a bed, a closet and some basic kitchen necessities. In other words: exactly as he had left it.

He rented this apartment back before he met the Titans, back when he thought he would need his secret identity. He always kept paying the rent (from an alias of his) just in case he would need it again.

The switch in the back of the closet was the secret so important to this apartment in particular. Robin had to feel around because he did not remember exactly where the switch was but once he found it the refrigerator spun around to reveal a powerful computer and compartment to hold his costume.

Naturally, the cape and boots were the first to come off and were soon followed by the rest of the uniform. Robin switched into a pair of casual blue jeans and a button up green shirt. The belt he put on was normal by anyone else's standards but felt foreign to him.

Finally he removed his mask. Robin never wore it to sleep or anything but he felt uncomfortable going out without it. Regardless, he took it off and placed it with the rest of his gear.

He closed his storage and went over to the closet and hit the switch again. The area spun around and turned back into a normal kitchen in less than three seconds. With his costume away, Robin needed to go back to having a daytime normal life.

He grabbed a key to his sedan off of the hook and walked towards to door. He turned to knob but stopped. He had not noticed a post-it note attached to the microwave. Knowing it was not in the apartment when he left it, he was cautious going to read it but curious nonetheless.

The post-it note read:

_Richard,  
><em>_You may want to move your secret switch.  
><em>_-S_

**Author's Note:** What, did you think I wasn't going to include Terra? I am going to go in a totally different direction with Terra here though. Who knows, maybe you Terra haters might start liking her!

And I know everyone puts a huge stress on Robin's mask and I just couldn't feel left out from that. And I really hope I do not have to explain who S is.

And one big request, please leave a review. You can do it about anything but specifically I want to know a few things.

First, how is my writing? I want to know if my prose is working well and my descriptions adequate for the actions, scenes and emotions. If you don't understand what is happening, let me know.

Second, is my dialogue alright? Did I capture the characters beyond just their mannerisms? Is it intelligent and does it enhance the story? Do you feel it is essential or just taking up space? Let me know.

Thirdly, any major violations of tense? It is supposed to be all in past tense (I know I jump between past perfect and past continuous, but it is all past) so if I go into the present tense, let me know so I can fix it.

If anything else that stands out as horribly wrong, let me know. If I have a good reason, I will tell you my reasoning and if you are right, I will fix it. So please, leave a review.

Thanks again for reading,

-Alltheginjoints


	6. Chapter 6

For Liv

Disclaimer: Come to think of it, I don't actually own anything

Horizon Line

Naturally, Dick sold the apartment immediately. He had all the advanced equipment moved to his sedan and notified the landlord within the hour. This came as both a shock and a disappointment to the landlord. Mr. 'Anderson' was almost the perfect tenant. He was not a disturbance; he never held parties or needed things fixed. Most importantly, he never complained and he _always_ paid his rent.

Dick figured it was getting too late in the evening to try and find a new apartment tonight and went in search of a motel. The sedan he was driving was not a luxury vehicle, at least not on the outside. It was an unassuming looking car with a smashed bumper which secretly had the engine of a racecar. Still, Dick took extra car when driving to make sure it never drew any serious attention.

A motel with a bright red sign caught Dick's eye as he left the downtown area. The Toreador Motel was high enough quality to be comfortable but dumpy enough to make anyone think twice before entering.

He would not be going out as Robin tonight but brought his uniform with him into the motel. He did not think he would run into any trouble but it was his first night without it in a long while and it made him feel safer knowing it was nearby.

The bell on the door alerted the front desk manager to Dick entering. The man, in his late twenties or early thirties, looked up lazily from his tabloid magazine. He was chewing gum or tobacco and had dark bags under his eyes which stared at Dick across the entire lobby. When Dick reached the desk, he rang the bell on the counter even though he and the man had been maintaining eye contact since he entered.

"I'd like to rent a room: single bed, one night."

The man behind the desk blew a bubble, confirming it was gum, "Name?"

"Doug Jones."

The man typed the name into his computer. "That'll be fifty-five dollars."

Dick reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. He dished out six tens to the manager who looked at it with a cold disregard and received the key to his room in return. As he stuck the key and wallet back in his pocket, he felt the post-it note from before brush his hand.

"Have a nice stay," the man said from behind his recently returned magazine.

Dick waved in appreciation, a gesture he knew the man wouldn't see, and went off to his room, ready to call it a day.

t+++++++++++++++++++t

The walk back to Terra cave was not very far as much as it was very far as it was very steep and rough. The soil was loose and if you put too much of your weight in one spot you could easily lose your footing.

Raven suggested Terra use her powers to levitate a rock up to the cave but Terra insisted, "I don't really like flying." To Raven, because Terra had earth/ground based powers that made sense almost to the point of being stereotypical.

"So," Raven, by nature, was not good at making small talk but decided to at least try, "Terra, was it?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you from anyway?" Raven figured it was a good enough first question as any.

"It doesn't matter where I am from." Terra's voice sounded choppy from her footsteps, "All that matters is where I am going."

Raven raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Right."

"Problem?"

"Your little motto there," Raven could have levitated herself up the cliff side but realized that would have been unfair to Terra, "It sounded almost comically cliché and very rehearsed."

"Well, it's true." Terra said indignantly.

"Sure."

"Really! It is!"

"Alright!" Raven said impatiently, "Well, where then?"

"Where… what?" Terra got lost in the conversation.

"Where are you going?" Raven said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Terra bit her lip and stopped moving. "To the cave, naturally."

"Very funny." She said sarcastically, "Now, are you going to answer me?"

Terra nodded.

"Which brings us back to where you are going."

"The thing is, I don't really know yet."

"What you are saying is you're not going anywhere."

"No!" Terra raised her hands in defense. "I am going everywhere!"

"And how is that working out for you?"

"Alright." Terra's voice quivered, "I guess."

As she said that, Terra's eye glowed yellow and the ground started to crumble beneath them and made Terra very nervous.

Raven appeared far more relaxed, "Terra, you can stop this right?"

Terra shook her head.

The ground continued to shake and made Raven start to lose her footing. Raven realized it was a bad time to notice this, but she saw the sun start to near the horizon. Another small tremor caused Raven to bring her attention back to the current situation and to lose her balance, causing her to grab onto Terra.

"Terra, are you the one…?" Raven felt oddly uncomfortable asking but she knew Terra could figure out the rest of her question.

Terra did not answer verbally but Raven picked up enough physical cues to understand the answer.

It did not take long for both girls to be struggling to stay on their feet and Raven had enough. Raven extended her hand and said, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos," and a black disc appeared before the pair.

To Terra, the disc looked paper thin and unstable but Raven stood on it as if were made of steel. Raven extended a hand down to the now wobbly Terra and pulled the shaken girl on. Although Raven was concentrating on keeping the disc level and stable she noticed Terra looked like she was on the verge of tears. Raven did not dwell on this long. She held onto Terra for fear she would fall and made the disc soar away from the cliff face.

t++++++++++++++++++++t

Beast Boy switched from a hawk to a flying squirrel and glided the last few feet to the roof of the target house. It was a normal house in the outskirts of the city, but still technically within the city limits. It was two stories high, made of brick and the green paint on the window shutters was either paper-thin or completely worn off. Still, there were two things that attracted Beast Boy to this particular house: first, it had someone living in it and second, they probably would not own mouse traps.

Once on the roof, Beast Boy changed into a normal gray squirrel and skirted along the gutter until he found a suitable entrance. Changing to a mouse, he squeezed in through the hole under the roof and found his way into the attic. Most people would not believe it, but their homes were easily invaded by even the simplest of rodents and naturally most homes proved to be no challenge for Beast Boy.

Once in the attic, he turned into a kitten and stretched out in the foam insulation. He felt safe now. Beast Boy knew exactly how to invade homes and what animals to do it with. Within the soft security of the insulation and the suburban security of being a housecat, Beast Boy finally felt comfortable drifting asleep. He knew it wasn't late yet, but he had a long day and deserved his rest.

t++++++++++++++++++++t

"I'm so sorry Raven!" Terra came close to sobbing.

"Don't worry about it."

"I could have hurt you!" Terra said, seemingly unaware of Raven's last comment.

"I would have been fine." Raven was quickly becoming tired of Terra's pity party.

"I didn't mean to!" Terra's voice suddenly dropped several decibels, "It was… an accident."

"Accident?"

"Yeah, an accident."

Raven set down the disc on a ridge further down the cavern. "Fine, I believe you."

"I didn't mean to." Once again, Terra seemed to have not heard. "I was just…"

"Not in control of your powers." Raven finished.

Terra shook her head vigorously but stopped. Finally, she nodded glumly.

"That is useful to know."

"Please don't tell anyone!" Terra pleaded. "I beg of you, do not tell anyone!" She clutched Raven's cloak and pulled Raven close to her.

Raven brushed Terra off of her cloak. "Who could I possibly tell?"

She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the ground to signify that Raven's answer did not totally satisfy her but she accepted it was the best she was going to get.

Raven took notice of the strong emotions emanating from Terra. Predominantly embarrassment but she could also feel anger, sadness and guilt. It was sensing these emotions prompted Raven to do something she would not do just any other day: take a leap of faith.

"I could help you."

"You could what?" Not knowing Raven too well at this point, Terra waited for the punch line

"Help you." Raven's stone serious face told Terra that punch line was not coming. "I know how difficult it is to control powers you don't understand."

Terra seemed somewhat lost.

"It took a lot of training and discipline to help me to control my powers. It still does. Maybe I can help you understand- and control- yours."

"Really?" The excitement could be heard bubbling in Terra's voice mixed with a pinch of doubt. "Do you think you would be able to?"

"Probably." Raven closed her eyes to help herself think, "Our powers are different in nature- probably- but not so different in practice."

A large smile broke across Terra's face. "Raven, I don't know what to say."

Raven rubbed her temple, "Why do you need to say anything?"

"Because I don't want to trouble you."

"Trust me. I can tell you could cause me more trouble with your power out of control." Raven's attention went back to the nearly setting sun. "Now, we need to find a new cave."

t++++++++++++++++++++t

Cyborg's arm let out a small chirp. He glanced down at the monitor and saw the same message his arm had been telling him for the past hour: **Reserve Power 3****%: recharge or replace cell immediately. **Cyborg could not put it off any longer or he would start to put himself in serious danger. He put on his turn signal and pulled into the rest area that came up on his right. The first available parking space was next to a nice red sports car. Cyborg smiled. He still could not help but think he had the best car in the lot.

He hopped out the T-Car and went to the trunk to fetch the extra power cell. Once he could settle down for a moment he would be able to set up a charging station but for now he would be make due with changing it. As long as he did not exert himself and did not use his sonic cannon, this one would last him awhile.

Cyborg tapped a few keys on his arm which opened his chest piece. He disliked exposing his inner workings but sometimes it was necessary. He removed the old cell, dead at this point, and threw it into the trunk. The cells were far more difficult to install than to remove but Cyborg had lots of practice.

He took the new power cell and held it to his chest. As one of the most advanced energy storing devices on the planet it fit easily into the palm of his hand. He turned to face the sun in hopes to get more light but it was below the trees at this point and did not provide much assistance.

He connected the wires between the cell and himself and gave them a minute to acclimate to each other. Once his systems told him everything was working and his arm monitor told him he was at 100% power again, Cyborg got back in the car to go find civilization and finally get some sleep.

Or he could just sleep here. The T-Car was climate controlled and had heated leather seats. He took another look at the skyline and made his mind. Cyborg would sleep here. Civilization could wait until tomorrow.

**Author's Note:** I finally finished the first day after Starfire's disappearance! As usual, write a review and tell me anything you liked, didn't like, if you have any questions. I wasn't sure about whether or not Robin would use an alias when checking into the motel. I figured he would for the apartment but I wasn't sure for the motel. Let me know.

Question: where is the category for the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited fanfictions? I haven't been able to find it and would be interested in reading some. Private Message me if you have found anything because I have been unable to.

**BIG QUESTION** (and possible sneak peak): Do you think it is spelled Zinothium or Xinothium? I have put a poll on my profile, but you can answer any way you feel like (i.e. review, PM, smoke signals or whatever)

As always, thanks for reading  
>-Alltheginjoints<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

For Liv

Disclaimer: Still do not own.

Getting By

Beast Boy had become very tired. The past six months had been rough on him and understandably so. He had been keeping close tabs on the students of the HIVE and had been trying to stop their almost biweekly raids of banks, electronics warehouses, machine parts stores or in this instance: a laboratory at Jump City University.

These robberies kept Beast Boy almost endlessly busy and all the fighting was almost to no avail. Whether because of force of numbers or another cause, Beast Boy was still unable to apprehend the seemingly never-ending hoards of students. Nevertheless, he would keep on trying to bring in the HIVE and tonight was no exception.

"Nice try snot-face!" Gizmo laughed as he dodged a charge from Beast Boy's rhinoceros form.

"Yeah." Mammoth waited behind Gizmo and grunted as he grabbed Beast Boy's horn and swung him over his head, "Just lose already."

"Why don't you just call it quits?" Jinx sighed as she placed her hand on her hip and watched the green rhinoceros fly into a wall of computer chips, "This is the seventh time you haven't beat us."

"Eighth time," Mammoth interjected.

"Eighth time you haven't beaten us." Jinx amended. "And we wouldn't think any less of you for giving up now."

Overhead, Gizmo could be heard snickering, "Yeah we would."

Beast Boy shifted back into his human form. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and his hair was longer than normal and untamed. His face was dirty and the bruised from a series of recent battles and his uniform hung off of his body from lost weight.

Beast Boy pulled himself up from the rubble and grabbed a piece of the shelf he just decimated. He turned into a gorilla and threw it as hard as he could at the HIVE.

Mammoth chuckled and raised his forearm. The metal shelf shard bounced off his muscular arm and Mammoth did not seem to notice even remotely.

"You gotta give him props for trying." Jinx said to no one in particular. She turned to her teammates, "Mammoth, you deal with chef-salad over there; Gizmo, we're getting the equipment the Headmaster requested."

Mammoth charged at Beast Boy and the remaining juvenile delinquents went to a high security door in the back of the laboratory. Jinx waved her hand once, sending out an array of fuchsia energy, and supposedly state of the art security door fell off its hinges. In the background, the sound of the fight between Mammoth and Beast Boy could be heard.

Gizmo flew into the room and started collecting samples of some preserved computer circuits. The circuits were fragile and the Headmaster sent a special transport container for them. The container was made of a strong titanium but also needed to be hooked up with the circuits before it would activate its built in security protocol. As Gizmo hooked up the circuitry to its personal shield, Jinx heard him muttering under his breath.

"Something the matter, Gizmo?" Jinx overheard Gizmo's grumbling and attempted to make conversation until either of the boys finished their task.

"Eh, it's nothing." Gizmo mostly concentrated on the equipment. He knew basically what it was and why it could be useful to some dorks in the science lab but could not understand why the headmaster would put his top students to stealing it.

"Really Giz, what is it?" Jinx pressed.

"Fine," Gizmo looked up from the circuitry. "I could've handed the crud-face. Why do I have to do this?"

"Because Mammoth could not handle high-tech commuter stuff and you can." Jinx hated stating the obvious.

"Oh," Gizmo's light bulb went on, "Right."

"And also because," Jinx began to shout, "I told you what to do and you won't question it!"

Gizmo cowered underneath his controller until Jinx stopped looking at him with predator eyes. Her anger would pass quickly as it usually did.

"Eh-hem." A small cough came from the door and snapped Gizmo's and Jinx's attention away from their mini-feud and onto the forest green teenager standing in the doorway, "Turns out, Mammoth isn't very good at handling this job either."

"Crud!" Gizmo shouted.

"Relax." Jinx returned to her cool state. "Gizmo, finish up there." Beast Boy changed into a wolf and jumped at Jinx but was stopped by a rafter falling in pink energy. "And I'll delay this clown." Jinx finished.

Gizmo turned back to his work. He knew Jinx was nowhere near as strong as Mammoth but she was also a lot smarter and her abilities more versatile. In addition he would only need a moment to finish up with the circuits before they could grab Mammoth and scram.

Beast Boy was in the form of a spider monkey to give him the best chances of dodging the seemingly random attacks Jinx sent his way. To an onlooker, this exchange might look like more like dancing than fighting but Beast Boy still felt aggressive and very at risk.

A piece of the wall collapsed onto Beast Boy and knocked him to the ground. Noticing his adversary pinned, Gizmo hurriedly finished his work with the circuitry. "I'm done; now let's get out of here!"

Clutching his valuable prize he flew quickly towards the exit and watched Mammoth start to stir from his unconscious state. Jinx backpedaled out of the security room firing her signature pink energy in every direction. If she was lucky, the whole wing of the building would come down on the hero.

Beast Boy threw the rubble off of his legs and got back to his feet and ran towards the escaping trio of villains. His vision was blurred by the cloud of dust and the downpour of building pieces but he could see Mammoth was not quite ready to run yet.

Beast Boy blocked the falling debris as best he could by transforming into a gorilla or by dodging the scrap was smaller animals. Either way, he made it up to the trio and was exhausted from his endeavor. Mammoth, finally recovered, took advantage of this and threw two hard punches: the first directly into the untransformed stomach and second into Beast Boy's unprotected face. Beast Boy was knocked backwards unconscious into the now decrepit technology room as it fell apart around him.

t++++++++++++++++++t

Jump City's downtown was usually pretty quiet at night. Most of the bars and clubs were set apart uptown from the more family oriented main street allowing a taut calm to fall over the area even at 3:00am on a Saturday.

Robin watched over the city from the rooftops. Since the breaking of Titans six months prior, crime had shot up. It was common knowledge that the Titans broke up, especially among criminals. When it happened, the city media outlets remained optimistic that they would regroup. But after six months, people had lost faith that the team was ever coming back together. The city had even removed the island from the power grid and cut electricity to the tower.

It was not necessarily that criminals were harder to stop. Just smaller villains were becoming more ambitious and there were fewer heroes to stop them. As best Robin knew, Raven had disappeared entirely and Cyborg had relocated to a small city several hours north. Only he and Beast Boy were still active in Jump and both had their hands full. At least that is what Robin figured from reading the papers.

Without the alarm to alert him to crime Robin had to resort to his original tactics: nighttime patrol. He was usually successful in stopping minor crimes but he tended to not focus on them. He knew the police could handle the small stuff and Robin had far larger fish to fry.

Slade. Slade reappeared six months ago at a diamond mine outside of the city. He had brought hundreds of his armed robots and Robin was the only hero around to fight. With his hands full with robots, Robin did not have the opportunity to take a stab at Slade. On almost all accounts, it should have been a total victory for Slade. Yet he oddly stole nothing and left disappointed.

Nevertheless, Robin knew Slade was active again in Jump City and the past six months Robin had done nothing but hunt for him. He started by searching Slade's old hideout but found it exactly as it was when Robin left it. Gears tossed about and a series of screen cracked from the destruction hung as a backdrop. Robin found nothing.

Several police sirens drew Robin's attention away from the Slade case. He searched until he found them and his gaze followed them as they drove off into the distance. Based on the direction they were heading, their probably destination was either Jump City University or the Luthor Industrial Park, not that Robin could be sure.

Robin started his case file by checking Slade's old targets such as technology and weapons manufactures but found no signs that Slade was after any of the usual objectives. As far as Robin could tell, Slade was operating outside of his usual pattern.

That did not stop the stream of aggravating goose chases Slade kept sending Robin on. Including the one he was probably sending him on tonight. Several weeks ago Slade sent Robin a message in the form of a single robotic guard attacking a power plant. Once defeated, Slade's robot played a message telling him that a building downtown would be robbed tonight. For the sole purpose of toying with Robin, he did not say which one and he did not say exactly when.

Without an exact time, Robin had been surveying downtown since dusk and it had started to take his toll. It would not be bellow Slade to make him pull an all-nighter just to wear him out or mess with him. Still, Robin knew better than to not follow a lead when he one came his way.

An alarm went off in a convenience store across the street and captured Robin attention but only for a moment. A theft like that would be too small for Slade's taste. Robin figured the police would handle it.

Robin's opinion on the matter changed when another alarm went off in a bank, followed by a third from video store. Within a minute, every single store, bank or restaurant had either an alarm or was crawling with Slade's robotic henchmen. Slade was not planning on robbing a bank or store; he was planning on robbing all of them.

Robin leapt to his feet and prepared his grappling hook to bring to down to street level. He aimed at the highest point on the block but a voice, deep and monotonous came from behind and interrupted his action.

"Hello Robin."

t++++++++++++++++++++t

Beast Boy stirred from his forcefully applied sleep and found himself on a collapsible gurney in the University courtyard not far from where his fight with the HIVE students was. The sun was not up yet but light was starting to spread across the dawn sky. Over the courtyard a score of policemen could be seen surveying the damage and several paramedics were on hand in case of other non-super-powered personal were injured.

Across the courtyard he could see a university professor talking to two detectives. Hopping off of his medical pedestal, Beast Boy started to walk over to the group.

A paramedic caught Beast Boy up from his gurney and ran over to grab his shoulder. "Beast Boy, we are not finished with your tests yet."

"I'm fine." Beast Boy replied indifferently and shrugged the physician's arm off of his shoulder.

"We understand you may not want to be looked at but we still do not know the extent…" He was almost jogging to keep up with the shape-shifter.

Beast Boy stopped walking, turned and looked the doctor in the eye, "I said I'm fine." He turned back away from the paramedic and continued to his goal.

As he came up on the professor and the detectives, Beast Boy overheard a small part of their conversation. He came in the middle of the dialogue and he was not entirely sure of the context but he figured out it was a discussion on the stolen tech.

"Beast Boy!" The first detective, whose nametag said Wilson, noticed the teenage hero before the others, "You're awake. We were all very worried."

"Thanks, but don't worry about me. It's part of the job." Beast Boy chuckled awkwardly. Despite what he told the paramedic earlier he did not feel entirely fine. He felt a pain in his side but he was sure that was there before the fight.

The second detective, whose name was Andrews, was far more business oriented. "Anyway, who was it this time?"

"HIVE again: Mammoth, Jinx and Gizmo." Beast Boy crossed his arms across his chest and turned to the professor, "What was stolen?"

"I don't know yet." The professor started.

"Who are you?" Beast Boy needed to know if this man was an authority on whatever was taken.

"Beast Boy, this is Dr. Monroe. He works in the University nanotech department and was a leader on most of the projects in this lab." Detective Andrews introduced.

The man gave a small wave and smile.

"Shouldn't you know what was taken then?" Beast Boy remark came out far ruder than he intended and dimmed the smile on the professor's face.

"Most of the tech wing was brought down in the fight." Andrews continued, "Most of the projects here are now either destroyed or covered in debris and it's impossible to know what was taken as of now."

"The HIVE were after something in a high security vault in the back of the lab," Beast Boy offered.

"Of course!" The professor exclaimed, "They must've taken my nano-modifiers!"

A long pause ensued while the crime fighters waited for Dr. Monroe to continue.

"And?" Wilson pressed.

"The nano-modifiers are something I have been working on for about three years now," The professor said. "At their most basic they are special type of circuitry that can modify themselves to integrate with almost any type of technology."

"What do you mean by almost any type?" Detective Andrews scribbled some notes onto a pad of paper.

"There are some obvious limitations. It can't work with a lot of alien technology and we can't make it integrate unless there are already circuits there." The professor laughed, "But other than that, it can work with everything from a coffeemaker to a supercomputer." The professor laughed again.

"Shouldn't you be worried?" Beast Boy questioned.

"Why should I be?" The professor said optimistically, "I have extra samples and even in their hands it is not dangerous."

"Couldn't technology like this be used to break security encryptions?" Detective Wilson inquired.

"Probably." Dr. Monroe continued to seem unconcerned. "That is supposing they did not break it just walking away with it."

Beast Boy and the detectives shared a look of uncertainty which the Doctor picked up on.

"It's very fragile. I'd be surprised if they made it a half mile without it breaking."

Detective Wilson was preparing to respond but was interrupted by his walkie-talkie. "We have a large scale robbery involving all of downtown Jump City, all units respond immediately." Wilson glanced to other men before picking up his walkie and responding, "Detectives Wilson and Andrews on our way." He ran off to his car.

Andrews was only a second behind. He tipped his cap to Dr. Monroe and Beast Boy and gave a distinguished, "Gentlemen," before running off after Detective Wilson.

Beast Boy refocused on the professor. "Is there anything else I should know about these…?"

"Nano-modifiers." Dr. Monroe filled in.

"Right."

"I don't think so. I think everyone can sleep soundly at night." The professor wore a confidence smile. "Speaking of which: shouldn't you be going with them?" He motioned to the fleet of police cars driving downtown.

Beast Boy rubbed his side which caused him to cringe a little. "Probably."

"Or maybe you've had enough for one night."

t++++++++++++++++++++t

"Hello Robin." Slade casually leaned against his staff. It bent ever so slightly under his weight but it was nothing drastic.

"Slade!" Robin hissed.

"I've been standing here for some time now," Slade almost chuckled. "I would think someone with your training would have been taught to pay attention to his environment."

Robin ran as fast as he could at Slade and threw a kick at his chest. Slade moved fluidly out of the way and watched with amusement as Robin reoriented himself.

"What are you planning?" Robin forced himself to remain calm but the tension in his voice overshadowed any attempt.

"I'm not planning anything." The sound of his henchmen looting could be heard from the street. "I'm just here to talk to you."

Robin took another shot at Slade but moved more carefully this time. He threw two punches which Slade dodged. Slade retaliated by swiping his left leg under Robin and knocked him to the ground. After watching Robin fall to the ground, Slade took eight steps backward.

"We have not talked in such a long time." Slade said as Robin returned to his feet. "And I like to keep in touch with my close friends."

"I'm no friend of yours." Robin said through gritted teeth. He took a bo-staff from his belt and extended it to full length. Slade changed his own staff from resting position to one poised for defense.

"The relationship between a master and his apprentice is one like two close friends." Slade made no attempt at attacking Robin but began to circle him like a shark.

Robin swung his staff overhead and Slade brought up his staff to block. Robin took more swings at Slade which he blocked with equal finesse. "I am not and never was your friend!" Robin yelled. "And I certainly will never be your apprentice again, if that is what you are getting at."

"Don't be silly Robin. I've moved on." Slade ducked beneath a swipe from Robin's bo-staff and retaliated with a kick to Robin's stomach. The kick sent Robin to the ground and made him drop his staff. Slade kicked the metal rod off the roof. "I've found someone new."

Robin threw three bird-erangs as he returned to his feet, all of which Slade blocked by spinning his staff. "Who?"

"Maybe some other time." Slade retrieved two smoke grenades from his belt. He threw the first directly at Robin which clouded his direct vision and the second in front of him to mask his escape. Through the smoke, Robin heard, "It was nice talking to you again Robin."

Robin heard brief footsteps but they were gone almost instantaneously. Robin searched through the dissipating smoke but found no trace of Slade. Once again, Slade left Robin lost.

t++++++++++++++++++++++t

Terra opened her eyes and stretched her arms and legs until she felt the satisfying crackle of her joints indicating she was ready for her day. Terra awoke abnormally early for a teenager and was always awake just before the sun rose above the horizon. She always was up earlier than Raven, if only by a few minutes.

The two had not moved far from where they had met all those months ago. However, they were no longer staying in a cave. Raven had built Terra's confidence until she manipulated the rocks to form a tent of sorts.

The rocky canyons were the basis of Terra's training. Raven had worked from the ground up with control. Terra thought she was in control of basics of her powers but from Raven's perspective she would not have problems with the complicated stuff if she understood the most basic aspects of her powers.

Terra rose to her feet and went to the entrance of the stone structure she built. It had a simple lean-to design with a sloped back and two straight walls. The open end faced east to let the morning sun in and keep the evening sun out. To any architect it was a joke at best, but to an amateur superhero it was a work of art.

"Good morning Terra," Raven said from the back of the structure.

Terra turned to face her mentor. "Morning. What's for breakfast?"

Raven shielded her eyes against the sunlight. "We eat after we meditate. Same as every morning."

Terra let out a sarcastic sigh of disapproval but did not argue and left the lean-to into the cool dawn air. There were several low hanging gray clouds in the sky that indicated it might rain later but nothing worth worrying about.

Raven grabbed her cloak and put it on before following Terra outside. She stuck her hood up to block the sunlight but the intense light peered through the fabric and into her pupils. Once adjusted to the new light, she entered her lotus pose and closed her eyes and began to chant.

Terra sat on the ground in a similar pose and thought to herself, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos." Although she never told Raven, the constant exposure to the phrase left a positive impression on her and she always used it during meditation. Meditation was something forced on her initially but something she had begun to appreciate more and more with practice.

Her eyes began to glow yellow and the ground she was sitting on carved out a circle and rose up to Raven's level. She closed her eyes. During meditation the goal was to keep the rock from wavering or dropping. Any loss of concentration would send Terra to the ground.

"Terra," Raven said monotonously.

Terra opened her eyes to make eye-contract, but saw Raven's eyes were still closed. "Yeah."

"You are doing very well and we can move on to more complicated actions soon."

Terra basked in the glory of a rare compliment. "Then we can go be real ass-kicking heroes again."

Raven opened one eye just to give a look of surprise to Terra. Terra was wearing a massive smile and Raven humored her. "Yes, yes we can."

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me so long to turn out this chapter. I had a giant paper in history that I should not have put off until the end and another massive economics assignment to turn in.

Other than that, if you have been reviewing, keep it up. You guys have been very positive so far and I appreciate that. If you have not reviewed: review! Or don't.

Last note: I have a beta-reviewer now because that is how pretentious I am. But in all seriousness, it is awesome to have someone who looks critically at my work. My reviewer's name username is Raven'sWinterRaine. Check her out (she is listed as one of my favorites).

As usual, thanks for reading.

-Alltheginjoints


	8. Chapter 8

For Liv

Disclaimer: I do not own Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven or Beast Boy. Or anyone else for that matter.

Friendly Fire

Cyborg pulled his car up to the curb but paid very little attention to whether or not he drove up on it. As he jumped out of the car, the Raineville fire chief held up two fingers on his left hand indicating there was someone trapped on the second floor. Cyborg ran towards the burning suburban home.

The fire chief was a slightly overweight woman in her mid-forties named Karla Reese. Her dark black hair had started to show gray streaks in recent years and had also started to thin out with her age. When not on duty, she was known for her humorous demeanor and casual fashion choices. Namely: plaid shirts and comfy moccasin shoes. However, when on duty, she ruled the fire department with an iron fist. She did not allow slackers in her department and had an unspoken policy around the department of _No Mistakes, No Casualties_.

When Cyborg first drove into Raineville and helped rescue a seventy-eight year old Alzheimer's patient from a collapsing apartment, Reese knew she had found someone dependable and extraordinary. Cyborg's mechanically protected lungs, metallic skin and robot eye allowed him to navigate fiery terrain that would be unsafe for any other volunteer firefighter.

Cyborg kicked the front door in and immediately felt a wave a heat roll over him like a carpet on a hardwood floor. Karla had signaled to him that someone was on the second floor and based on the size of the house, he figured he could be in and out with a victim in less than three minutes.

Cyborg ran through the flaming house in search of the stairwell. As he ran, his sensors detected and told him the exact heat of the floor and the air, not that he really wanted to know, and his human integration allowed him to feel it. He had trained himself to know that he feels the pain but as a machine it cannot hurt him and cannot slow him down.

The stairwell was in the back of the house behind the incinerated kitchen. As he passed through the cook room, he noticed something he had never noticed before in a burning building. Some popcorn was popping with the heat and was scattering onto the floor.

When Cyborg took hold of the wooden banister it fell apart in his grip and he knew the stability of the stairs was questionable at best. He pushed thoughts like those out of his paranoid human brain and flew up the stairs. It was not time to dawdle.

Cyborg's heavy left foot came down on the top stair and it fell out beneath him, causing him to fall back down to the first floor. When he hit the ground, the shock knocked a burning cabinet on top of him.

"Damn it!"

The burning wood hit his face- the only truly vulnerable part of his body- and Cyborg let out a scream. Still, he could not let it slow him down. He threw the furnishing off of his body and gathered his strength the jump to the top of the stairs.

Cyborg treaded far lighter than he did on the first floor. He noticed there was series of rugs on the floor, all of which were charred black at this point.

"Hello!" Cyborg yelled. "Where are you?"

The heat was beginning to get to Cyborg and his human side was sweating profusely in a dire attempt to cool himself down.

"Hello!" Cyborg shouted again. "Give me a sign to where y'all are!"

Cyborg looked to the sonic analyzer in his arm. There was a lot of white hot noise, but with a little bit of work he could pinpoint the person's heartbeat. Cyborg worked with the frequency and until a steady beat was locked and was leading him towards the victim.

"Found ya." Cyborg mumbled through the smoke.

Working almost entirely on his sonar, Cyborg navigated into a small bedroom. While the bedroom must have been lovely about two hours ago, it was horrendously decrepit now. The sky blue wall paper was peeling off into greasy black strips that resembled an ink-blot test. Cyborg could almost see a small family in the Rorschach.

Cyborg heard a faint crying under the twin bed and looked under to find a small kid- probably Asian in decent and with short, straight hair- curled up in the fetal position. Wasting no time, Cyborg lifted the bed from boy and grabbed the kid and gently tucked him under his arm.

Wasting no time, Cyborg instantly started back the way he came, once again taking care of the damaged floor. He saw the oil paintings on the walls and watched them melt as if they were crayons. As the flames started to rise from the still life Cyborg regrettably thought that in many ways, it was more beautiful than the original artwork

Cyborg came again to the fallen stairs and careful dropped down onto the first floor. As he landed, he started to feel a pain in his cybernetic brain. Not a headache like anything he experienced in his human half but more like the slowness most computers face when downloading large files. Cyborg recognized the feeling instantly: a break in was occurring at Titans Tower.

Of all the inconvenient times someone could break in, it had to happen when he was carrying a small child in the middle of a burning home. He could not turn off the alarm now- at least not without putting down the kid- so he decided to ignore the feeling at least until they were out of the house.

As Cyborg ran back down the hallway to the entrance to the home, the alarm was growing to be severely painful. He designed the system to notify him of any break ins at the tower and would not allow themselves to be ignored unless Cyborg shut off the alert permanently.

Ceiling tiles were starting to fall down on the hero and the kid, who had started to cry. Cyborg only needed to resist the alarm for another second to escape the building. Sucking in his breath and mustering the rest of his strength, Cyborg charged at the front door.

Cyborg ran out of the house clutching the small boy. Once the light improved he could see the boy had been burned. Not too severely but enough to cause the child to be in serious pain. The parents of the child ran forward shouting for Cyborg to give the boy to him but were held back as Cyborg ran to the nearest ambulance to place to boy into the care of the paramedics. Once in their hands, Cyborg turned to his arm monitor and shut of the migraine inducing alarm.

The heavy water pumping fire trucks had arrived and were starting to douse the flames. With the kid out of the house and the fire at least partially under control, Karla turned her attention away from the head and onto Cyborg who was looking at the fire with a cool reverence.

Chief Reese let out a small, forced cough to capture Cyborg's attention. "I saw the kid as you brought him out."

"Did you now?" The reflection of the now dwindling fire could be seen in Cyborg's mechanical eye.

"The kid was burned." Karla reached for Cyborg's shoulder but he shirked away. "What happened in there?"

"The burn wasn't my fault." Cyborg came across as abnormally distant.

"Cyborg, we both know I never said it was." The strength in Karla's voice knocked Cyborg back into shape. "Now, I'll ask again: what happened in there?"

"I was distracted," Cyborg said. "There was a break-in at the tower and my sensor's picked it up."

"You told me you shut off all your connections."

"I installed a security override so the system would inform me no matter what."

The fire was entirely put out and Karla signaled for the others to begin to enter and survey wreckage. "How is the security system still online? I heard in the news that the electricity was cut from your tower."

"It was. But I designed the tower to have an emergency generator to keep the key systems- such as and primarily security- online."

"Just shut off your connection and don't let it happen again." She pointed at Cyborg sternly.

"Small problem with that Karla," Cyborg said. "I can't do it remotely."

"Meaning."

"I'd have to go back to the tower to shut off my connection to the security system."

"I don't see how that is a problem."

"Because I would leave and there could be another-"

"We won't have another fire in the two days you would be gone. You need to do this so it won't be a distraction in the future."

"Karla, I'm not going back!"

"Yes, you are!" Karla shouted loud enough to attract attention from a few of the bystanders. "Whatever you don't want to go back to: stop acting like a kid and get over it!"

Cyborg seemed shocked. He had known Karla to shout, he had known her to get angry and he had known her to dig her heels in the sand but never to the point where she would be so forceful to him. It made Cyborg avert his gaze.

Karla softened at Cyborg's uncomfortable stance. "Look Cyborg, I know how old you are, but I did not mean it like that."

"It's no big deal."

"Really, I am sorry." Karla rubbed Cyborg's shoulder. Even though Cyborg had known her for less than eight months, it was moments like this that reminded Cyborg of his own mother. "But Cyborg, my point is: if you can put whatever animosity you have towards your ex-teammates behind you for a single day, it would be doing both of us a favor."

Cyborg humored Karla with a smile.

"And besides," She switched to a far more cheerful tone, "While you are there, you can pick up another one of those power cells you are always complaining about!"

This made Cyborg laugh. Although he found it amusing, he self-consciously checked his arm monitor. It read at 18%. If he was not doing any heavy lifting or using his more advanced weapons, his power cell might last him the rest of the year. Still, returning to formally-Titans Tower and retrieving another battery would be wise.

"Alright," Cyborg said. "You've convinced me."

"Good boy!" Karla said with false condescension. She changed back to her motherly tone. "Call if anything comes up."

Cyborg went over to his car and hopped into the leather seating. Starting up the car and feeling the cars power he readied himself to return to what he left behind all those months ago.

Karla came up to the door and knocked on the window. The window rolled down and Cyborg prepared himself to Karla's last quip.

"Take a shower before you go," Karla smirked. "You smell like ash and shit."

t++++++++++++++++++++t

Mammoth held the cable taut as Gizmo lowered himself into the warehouse. Once level with the security system panel, Gizmo hacked away at the computer until the arsenal of defensive systems, sensors and cameras extinguished themselves.

Gizmo laughed. "For a high security government storehouse, the high security is pretty bogus." He signaled to his partners.

The two other villains dropped down from the ceiling and cut Gizmo's line. As the cable came apart from his backpack, it switched to a jetpack and Gizmo started to guide his teammates through the aisles of military tech to their prize.

"What are we even looking for?" Mammoth grumbled.

"Headmaster called it an ion displacer," Jinx whispered.

"What is it?" Mammoth pressed.

"Beats me," Jinx shrugged.

"It's an energy converter," Gizmo said. "It works by rearranging the ions in compounds to release the maximum amount of energy."

"Sounds dangerous," Mammoth chuckled. "I like it."

"The pansies at the government have just been using them as big batteries." Gizmo had a scanner coming out of the top of his backpack searching for the specified technology without having to make a mess of the containers. "Shows what a bunch of wimps they are."

"I'll bet the Headmaster has something good in mind." Jinx had come to idolize the new headmaster. He was showing the students what it truly meant to be a villain.

"He better," Mammoth complained. "I am starting to get tired of all these assignments he keeps sending us on."

"Speaking of which: where is that snot-faced Titan?" Gizmo questioned.

"Ex-Titan," Jinx pointed out.

"Whatever," Gizmo said passively. "You know what I meant."

"Maybe he died." Mammoth smiled at the thought.

"Or maybe he just finally gave up." Jinx offered. "Got tired of us kicking his butt."

"Told you he was a crud-licker." Gizmo snickered and Mammoth laughed at his joke.

"Quiet!" Jinx ordered the two boys. "How much further anyway?"

Gizmo looked at the miniature monitor built into his controller. "Not much." Gizmo hovered in midair and let his sensor lead them to the correct container.

The trio hovered around the container. It was a medium sized metal shipping container, approximately five feet long, three feet wide and two feet deep. Its cover was orange and had black stripes running along from end to end. Gizmo pointed at it to indicate it was, in fact, the correct item to steal. Mammoth decided it was turn to act and grabbed the container's lid and ripped it off. The sound resonated through the whole building and caused all three villains to flinch.

The bulk of the container was filled with packing peanuts. Jinx stuck her hand into the foamy sea and searched around until she felt something metallic. Out of the peanuts, she pulled out their goal.

It was copper and black in color and cylindrical in shape. Although it did not appear to be something extremely valuable, she did admit it had some pleasing aesthetic qualities. She stuck it in the sack she brought and turned to find the whole they came in from.

"Only one?" Mammoth stopped her.

"You don't listen much, do you?" Jinx teased. "The headmaster told us to only take one."

"Why?" Mammoth's deep voice was intimidating to most people who have heard it. Jinx was not among those people.

"Because the Headmaster told us how many to get," Jinx stated. "Do you feel the need to question the Headmaster's orders?"

Mammoth passed on the question. "We… uh, should go."

The trio left the storehouse and left to return to the HIVE Academy and present their prize to their headmaster. Unbeknownst to them, a small green mouse follow them from a safe distance the entire way back.

t+++++++++++++++++++t

"Now watch as The Amazing Mumbo makes all your money disappear!" Mumbo Jumbo waved his black and white magic wand and all the cash bound themselves up into bags and flew into his hat.

He turned to the gaged teller and slapped him twice on the cheek. "Now you have been a lovely audience, but I must move onto another show."

Mumbo turned on his heels and ran out of the bank. It was a small, locally owned bank in the outskirts of Jump City. While it would not bring in the amount of dough Mumbo was accustomed to, it would suffice for a few months. Once outside, he reached inside his hat to review his tributes.

His hat and loot were separated from his hand when a stony pillar rose from the ground into Mumbo's stomach.

"Nailed him!" Terra turned to Raven and quietly asked, "Who did I nail?"

"Mumbo."

"Right." Terra snapped her fingers and pointed at Raven. "Mumbo, gotcha."

"Raven! You're back!" Mumbo summoned his hat back to him and perched it back on his bald, blue head. "I thought you skipped town."

"I didn't." Out of the corner of her eye, Raven could see Terra was somewhat amused by Mumbo's antics.

"Apparently not!" Mumbo laughed. "And I see you made a new friend."

The blonde girl's eyes glowed yellow and she lifted several pieces of pavement up to her level. "Name's Terra!" She threw the stones at Mumbo.

Mumbo smiled. He removed his wand from his pocket and twirled it around in the air three times. Each of stones turned to doves which turned around an flew back at the girls. Once within range, they dive-bombed and turned back into stones.

Raven set up a shield to block the incoming projectiles.

"Is that all you got Mumbo?" Terra growled.

"You weren't a fan of that trick? Personally, I thought it rocked!" Mumbo laughed.

Mumbo retrieved a bouquet of flowers from his sleeve and chucked them to the girls. As Terra caught it, it exploded and knocked her backwards.

Raven took control of the bug car beside her and tossed it over to Mumbo who turned it to dust with a snap of his fingers. The kleptomaniacal magician switched to the offensive and pulled a colorful scarf out of his ear.

Raven took another jab at Mumbo by throwing some black magic mailboxes at him. His scarf knocked them out of the air and spun around Raven's ankles. The magic line came taut and pulled Raven to the ground.

The Amazing Mumbo waved his wand a sedan next to him transformed into a circus cannon. It was primarily navy blue and had red stripes go from the end to the barrel. A large lightning bolt logo was imprinted on the side.

Directing the scarf with his wand, Mumbo put Raven into the cannon and aimed it straight up.

"I've always wanted to try this!" Mumbo took a step back. "Mumbo Jumbo!" He pointed his wand at the cannon and shot sparks at it. The cannon fired, sending Raven flying into the air with no sign of stopping soon.

Terra got to her feet only in time to see Raven shoot off. As she ran back into the frame, she yelled at Mumbo, "What did you do to her?"

"Don't worry, she's fine!" Mumbo said with a grin and he watched Raven's jet trail ascend into the sky. "She just won't come down for a long while."

Terra decided to stop playing nice with this comedian. She shot streams of earth at the maniac magician and he stopped them all with equal grace. He turned them to water, flowers or birds and not once did one come close to touching him.

"Come on now!" Mumbo teased. "You look like a smart girl. You can do better than that!"

"Shut up!" Terra levitated on top of a rock and flew closer to Mumbo. "I know what I'm doing!"

"I can see that," Mumbo said sarcastically. His expression changed. "Now, pick a card." He drew a deck of cards from the palm of his hand and threw the eight of diamonds at Terra. It hit the stone she was on and sent her to the ground.

Terra landed on the ground and hoped Raven would come back down soon. Terra did not think she could win this fight on her own.

"What was that?" Mumbo pestered. "I thought you said you knew what you were doing!"

"I do!" Terra commanded several stones up from the ground and shaped them into needles. She fired them all in Mumbo's direction.

He yawned and sucked them into his hat. "And you are showing me that very nicely." Mumbo looked at the nonexistent watch on his wrist and proclaimed, "Now, if you don't mind I will be going now."

"No, you won't!" Terra screamed and shook the ground beneath Mumbo's feet. Mumbo simply grabbed onto his hat and lifted himself off the ground for a moment while the quakes shook the ground beneath him.

"Nice try kid, really." Mumbo sighed and look with genuine sympathy. "But you are not in control of this situation."

Terra gritted her teeth. "I can control a lot more than you think."

Terra's eyes glowed yellow and she opened a fissure in the road below Mumbo's feet. While his slight levitation worked for the mini-quakes, he was unable to stay afloat over a chasm like the one Terra was creating and fell in with more grace than could have been expected.

"Got you!" Terra exclaimed. Mumbo started to climb out when the ground continued to shake, making him fall back in. After a few more attempts, the walls of the fissure started to close in on the trapped Mumbo.

"You win!" He screamed. "I lose! Just let me out of here!" The walls continued to come in.

"I'm trying!" Terra yelled. Her eyes burned yellow and made the ground shake. Car alarms had started to go off and people were leaving their home in fear of an earthquake.

"Terra!" Raven bellowed from above. Her decent was nearly complete. "Stop the quakes! You won!" She did not say this as a congratulations.

"I can't!" Terra yelled.

"Yes you can!" Raven yelled. The sound of car alarms and falling bricks was starting to become overpowering. "Find your center and control yourself!"

Terra closed her eyes and searched until she found the only way to control her insides that she knew. She began to chant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

This surprised Raven. She knew those words were useful to her because of what they meant to her but Raven never realized they had become important to Terra as well. Either way, the tremors started to die down and things returned to normal.

Pedestrians looked at both girls with uncertainty. They recognized Raven, but Terra was new ground to them and that set an uncomfortable wall between them. Parents held their children back and nobody seemed comfortable approaching them.

Not that Terra wanted anyone coming near. She was totally focused and could be heard mumbling her new mantra under her breathe.

Raven grabbed onto Terra's shoulder and whispered, "We're leaving," into her ear. Terra nodded in acknowledgement, but continued to remain still, chanting. Raven summoned her powers to capture the two of them into a field of black energy. The power scooped them up and sent them home.

They had more work to do.

t++++++++++++++++++++t

While the HIVE academy looked like a normal apartment complex on the outside, once inside its appearance changed to a highly stylized network of hallways, dorms, classrooms and training grounds all set to the pattern of a beehive.

Mammoth, Jinx and Gizmo had a date at the very center of this complex. In the central part of the building was the headmaster's office. It was surprisingly modest for the leader of the most prestigious villainy school in the world. It sported the same hexagonal door as every other room and seemed only large enough to host a maximum of maybe ten people. It was dimly lit by the single lamp which rested atop a desk that looked like it could have easily been owned by royalty at some point.

The last feature of the office was the headmaster himself. He was a tall man in his late fifties or early sixties with a full head of white hair. He dressed in long white and yellow robes with the visage of a skull. His most intimidating feature and also his most subtle was he had a set of piercing blue eyes. He sat in a velvet topped chair which could be more adequately described as a throne.

The three students stood before their headmaster as he reviewed them after the very important assignment he had given them. Gizmo flew forward and placed the bag containing the Ion Displacer on his desk. When he returned to the line of his classmates, each of them bowed their heads slightly before their leader.

"We've completed our assignment, Headmaster," Gizmo said.

The headmaster rose from his pedestal and walked over to his students. Each of them looked very tense as he drew closer to them with his stern face. But as he reached them, he turned into a soft smile. "This is your eighth straight successful assignment. Well done my students."

"Ninth." Mammoth substituted.

The headmaster delivered a delicate smile. "Either way, you are helping everyone prepare for the start of our class project."

"What is our class project anyway?" Jinx asked.

The man's eyes glowed red and a moment later, the three students followed suit. "You will learn in good time my students." He placed his arms around Jinx's and Mammoth's shoulders. "I will reveal our class project soon: but not today."

"Yes Headmaster," the villainous trio replied in unison.

"Good." The man smiled. "You three are dismissed."

The three students about-faced and walked towards the hexagonal shaped door. As the left his office, the headmaster examined the piece of technology stolen before sticking it into a drawer in his desk. Once the technology was away, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. "You can come out now. No sense in hiding. I already know you are there."

The headmaster scanned the room for movement as Beast Boy crawled stealthily into an attacking position as a small beetle. When he was sure the elder man was not ready, he transformed into a monkey and leapt to strike the villain.

The experienced villain simply smiled. He had long foreseen Beast Boy's attack and delivered a quick punch to Beast Boy's face, forcing him to shift back to his default form as he landed on the floor. Oddly, as he landed, Beast Boy noticed the beehive patterned carpet smelled of lavender and a tint of honey.

"Found you," the headmaster said with gleeful sarcasm.

Beast Boy had not expected a man of the headmaster's age to throw such a powerful punch and for a moment, he was completely stunned. Regardless, Beast Boy forced himself to return to his feet.

Beast Boy took an offensive stance and prepared to engage the man. The headmaster did not look fazed and simply gestured to the seat across from his desk. "Welcome… Beast Boy, is it?"

Beast Boy said nothing and simply tried to stare him down but held nothing against the headmaster's authoritarian eyes and charismatic smile.

"Since you are here, sit down and relax." The headmaster returned to his velvet cushioned chair. "Have a drink and let's talk."

"I am not here to drink and I am not here to talk," Beast Boy growled. The headmaster was not amused or intimidated by Beast Boy's aggressiveness. Beast Boy continued, "I am here to stop you."

The headmaster laughed as he poured into his glass. He paused and took another look at Beast Boy before pouring into the second glass as his laughter subsided. "Stop me? You don't even know what I'm planning."

"I'll find out."

"And what better way to find out, than to sit down and have a drink with me." The headmaster gestured to the chair opposite his invitingly.

Beast Boy hesitantly took a seat. "I can't drink. I am only sixteen."

This made the headmaster laugh outrageously. "And I am wanted in thirty-seven states!" He pushed the glass closer to Beast Boy who picked it up gingerly.

The headmaster picked up his own glass and raised it. "Cheers," he said with a grin. He downed his drink.

Beast Boy paused but finally took his drink as well. He shuddered as the strong alcohol ran down his throat, but despite the pain he forced himself to maintain eye-contact the headmaster.

The experienced criminal poured himself another drink. "Care for another?" Beast Boy did not respond and made the headmaster shrug. "Suit yourself."

"What are you planning?" Beast Boy commanded.

"You demand so much. And so impatient too." The headmaster lifted his glass and took a small sip. "Didn't your parents teach you manners?"

Beast Boy gritted his teeth and pointed to his glass. "I'd like one more please."

"That's better." The headmaster poured another shot's worth of whiskey into Beast Boy's glass. "Now, seeing as I must teach you some manners, let us start with the basics."

Beast Boy followed his elder's lead and took a smaller sip from his glass. It stung like last time but was in a bearable quantity this round. "Like what?"

"My name of course! You still don't know who I am!"

"Alright, who are you?"

"My name is Brother Blood. I am the new headmaster of the HIVE Academy after the previous headmaster went regrettably missing."

"What are your credentials?" Beast Boy asked with sarcasm

"So, you do know how to have a conversation! Wonderful!" If Brother Blood did not enjoy watching Beast Boy's energy drain from his face, he certainly appeared to. "I entered the life of crime when I was seven. I won't bore you with my entire life story but I can assure you I have been working this life for a long time."

"What was your first crime?"

"I blackmailed the mayor of my town into giving fifty percent of all our tax revenues to me." Blood smiled as the memory filled him with positive feelings.

Beast Boy was shocked. "You did this when you were seven?"

"I was a bit of a prodigy." Blood finished his drink. "I attempted to do the same to my school principle to get me through school, but he would not budge. At least not without more stimulation."

"Stimulation?"

Brother Blood ignored Beast Boy's last comment. "Still, it showed me the power, the honor, the prestige of the education system and made me want to pursue a career where I could teach or inspire."

"And commit crime."

"Naturally," Blood chuckled. Blood turned to his desktop computer and started typing. "Beast Boy, you have been very patient and deserve a good reward."

Beast Boy waited anxiously.

The headmaster turned the screen of his computer around and showed Beast Boy the information. It was a series of blueprints showing the design of a device of some sort.

"Is that your class project? Is it a-" Beast Boy started.

"An Ion Amplifier," Brother Blood interrupted. "It is a remarkable weapon, really. Compact, elegant and devastating in its power. Something I dreamed up years ago and is only now becoming a reality."

Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "What does it do?"

"It is an energy multiplier. Simply by attaching to any weapon, it raises the power of the weapon to magnitudes unimagined."

"That is why you wanted the Ionic Displacer!"

The smile on Blood's face grew wider, "And the nano-modifiers as well. This Amplifier must integrate with the weapons somehow." Blood started laughing as if his comment was the best joke in the world.

Beast Boy felt sick for a moment but then felt a smile crawl to his face. And then he burst out laughing. He laughed along with Blood until it occurred to the headmaster they were probably laughing for different reasons.

"Yes Beast Boy?" Blood inquired.

Beast Boy's laugher died down but only just barely. "You really had me going there!"

Although for the first time in their conversation Blood did not wholly understand Beast Boy, his calm façade never shattered. "I am afraid you have lost me Beast Boy."

Beast Boy wiped a tear from his eye. "Your Ion-whosie-whatever isn't even finished yet!"

"Don't be silly! Of course it isn't," Blood smiled. They were back on track. "My weapon is not ready either."

Beast Boy stopping his mild laughter. "What weapon?"

"Maybe you aren't as clever as you initially let on." Blood watched with pleasure as Beast Boy's jaw dropped. "The weapon I am using with the amplifier. It is useless without another weapon to use it with."

"What weapon?" Beast Boy shouted this time.

"We can talk about it next time. It will give you a good reason to visit me again sometime."

Beast Boy rose to his feet and stood poised for a fight with Blood.

But the Brother always preferred to be a spectator. Blood tapped what looked like an intercom button on his desk. "Gizmo, you may come in now."

Gizmo glided into the room followed by two students. The first of the two wore a black cape and a blue mask. His red eyes never seemed to blink. The second was a light blue skinned creature with two antennae and an arrow on his darker blue shirt. Gizmo pressed a button on his controller and a laser weapon appeared out of his backpack. "Told you the crud-muncher was following us."

"Thank you very much for informing me Gizmo." Blood cooed and Beast Boy watched his eyes glow red. "Now students, if you please: escort our friend out of my school."

t++++++++++++++++++++t

Cyborg felt a draft as he reentered the tower. Over the past eight months, a layer of dust had settled over every surface, but the breeze- wherever it was coming from- had blown it around, giving it the effect of a desert or tundra.

With the power out and the elevator out of service, Cyborg was forced to climb the stairs to the top of the tower. At nearly six hundred feet tall and containing more than eight hundred steps from its ground floor to its top floor, it was no small climb and certainly not one to be taken lightly.

As he came up through the center of the tower, Cyborg passed the gym and indoor training arena. The draft picked up and sent a chill down his mechanical spine. "This place feels like a ghost town." Cyborg kept his voice down as if to not awaken any spiritual onlookers. He vowed not to stay long, just in case.

Cyborg reached his destination at the cross of the T and felt oddly disassociated from his former home. The residential portion of the tower used to be his pride and joy but his affection had since diminished with his leaving. He took a quick stop to his former room to retrieve another power cell but he was sure to keep his visit brief. He left to go quickly do what he came to do.

The source of the tower-wide draft was found as he entered the common room. The main window had burst out- unlikely from natural causes, based on the design- and allowed for every sea breeze to enter and flow through the empty corridors of the mighty structure.

Cyborg looked at the gaping hole in the window and stared out at the sea. "No wonder someone was able to break in so easily."

Cyborg went over to the security panel and accessed the tower's security network mainframe. Because of his own computer integration, it had always been easiest to access for him but was designed for easy access from any of the Titans and had built in safeguards to prevent unwanted guests for joining. And despite the time and circumstance of the Titans estrangement, the tower's security was still top-notch- truly a testament to its fidelity.

Cyborg had finished disconnecting himself from the Titans security. Never again would it call to distract him. But before he could feel comfortable leaving the tower, he felt he needed to check in to see what was taken.

It only took a few moments for Cyborg to bring up security footage of the time of the break in. He uploaded all the videos to his own eye. It was certainly easier to view them that way.

He scanned through the most probably areas of entry and figured he would follow the perpetrator from there. While the window turned out to not be the place of entry, he eventually figure out the character came into the tower with scuba through T-ship launch pad.

Cyborg followed the path of the thief until he found his prize. But Cyborg could not believe it. Cyborg disconnected himself from security and ran back to the stairs. He could not wait to be proven wrong as he jumped entire flights to reach his destination.

Once he found his way to the basement, Cyborg ran to the safe he had constructed with Robin. A safe they designed to be unbreakable. Nevertheless, when Cyborg arrived in the basement he found exactly what the security showed.

"No…" Cyborg could hardly speak from the amount of breath he lost. "It's not possible."

He lost his grip and dropped the power cell he had been holding and it came to the ground with a clatter. He could hardly believe his eyes. He thought it could not be stolen because he helped build the strongest safe in the entire tower. And yet it was gone.

Someone had stolen the Red-X suit.

**Author's Note:** A healthy dose of Cyborg is good for you. Sorry he wasn't in last chapter, but I made up for it by giving you double of your prescription this time. Speaking of which, how did I do with the fire rescue scene. I am not sure it came out as well as I had hoped. Let me know.

As for the height specs of Titans Tower, I figured that tower would not be as tall as something in New York City and so I looked for a tower of suitable height and copied its height and stair amounts.

Next: FEED ME SEYMOUR! FEED ME NOW! Feed me reviews! I can see how many people are viewing each chapter and I know some of you have my story on alert… so be a dear and leave a review.

If you don't feel like leaving something critical, here is a simple question to answer in a review: Who is your favorite of the original five Titans?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I actually do own the Teen Titans DVDs, but not much beyond that.

Silhouette

It was a cloudless night over Jump City and the moon cast a thin heavenly glow into ever nook and crevasse it could touch. The streets were quiet and the limited sounds indoors were all muted.

Inside his own apartment, Dick laid in his bed asleep. Although he slept on his side, it was still possible to see the soft rise and fall of the sheets, slow and rhythmic, a testament to how deep a sleep it was.

The moonshine came in thought he window behind him and illuminated the entire living space. His new apartment was smaller than the last, with only one room, but still contained a small kitchenette, sectioned off by a small bamboo divider.

As he slept, a shadow fell over the sleeping superhero. This darkness was not from a cloud but from a silhouette of a man that rose up from the windowsill. He was tall and had broad shoulders and moved with robotic precision.

The person carefully grasped the exterior of the window pane and slowly pulled the window open. Once open fully, the figure stepped in and moved over to the bed. The figure pulled a weapon from his belt and pointed it at the bed.

Robin's eyes flashed open and he kicked upward, knocking the weapon out of the assailant's hand.

He twisted into an upright position and threw a punch, which connected with the chest. He felt backward into the light, allowing Robin his first good look at the intruder. Clad in tan and black armor, he immediately recognized it as one of Slade's drones.

"Typical."

Robin had fought large numbers of these before and a lone robot was not much of a struggle for the martial artist, although he was smart enough to realize that would be different had he still been asleep.

He swept with his legs, knocked the machine off its feet to the ground and completely disarmed the attacker until it could fight no more.

Robin sat down on the bed and eyed the robot. The drone stared blankly in his direction, while Robin contemplated what to do with it. He sighed.

"It never hurts to check." He took the mask off the drone and came face to face with a screen.

On the screen was Slade.

"Hello Robin," Slade said. "Enjoy the gift I sent?"

"Slade!" Robin yelled. "Why did you send the drone?"

"I was hoping you're a heavy sleeper." Slade's sense of humor did not go over well with Robin. When Robin did not respond Slade continued, "You were getting a little too close to some volatile information."

Robin gritted his teeth.

"That's right. I know exactly how far into your little investigation you are. I have been watching you just as close as- if not closer than- you have been watching me."

"So that's how you were able to find out where I live."

"Where your apartment is, what aliases you have been using, patterns of movement you fall into. Pretty much everything I would need to know."

"And I know the same about you," Robin threw in quickly.

"You know nothing about me," Slade said confidently. "You don't know where my base it, you don't know what I'm planning-"

"I know what you're planning and you know that." Robin's interjection sounded more desperate than he intended.

"I admitted you were getting close. That is not the same as knowing what I'm planning and _you_ know that." Slade continued, "And either way, you still don't know who my apprentice is."

"I have a few leads."

"Oh good." The screen flickered slightly. "Then you have deduced it is probably a former friend of yours."

Robin's throat ran dry. "What?" He gasped.

"To be honest, I am surprised you hadn't figured it out by now," Slade murmured. "With only so many eligible candidates in the area, I figured you would have deduced there is only one I could have."

"Who is it?" Robin tried shouting but it came out hoarse from shock, anger or both.

"They only friend- or former friend- who hasn't been fighting crime or fire these past nine months." Slade watched the painful realization come onto Robin's face and behind his mask, enjoyed it. "I assume you know who I am talking about now."

"Raven." This time, the growl came out in full power, strengthened by his anger.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because it can't be…" Robin trailed off, although he wished he didn't.

"Starfire?" Slade offered. "Maybe it's her."

"It's not."

"Are you sure?" Slade voice was starting to become a headache for the teen. "What ever happened to her? Even I could not find out. Did she go home because she found you all too boring? Or maybe she left because she never thought you were friends to begin with."

"Quiet!" Robin snarled.

"Sore spot..." Slade rubbed his chin. "Very interesting."

"What are you holding over her?" Robin needed to change the subject as fast as possible.

"Who, Raven?" Slade asked. "Nothing at all. After your little team broke up, she was practically begging for some… companionship."

"I know that isn't true; she isn't the type."

"If that is what you think, it is no wonder none of them are your friends anymore." Slade grinned and somehow Robin could tell. "You don't understand any of them in the slightest. Especially not my dear apprentice Raven."

"You're lying."

"I very well could be." Slade physical persona gave no indication otherwise. "But, if I'm not… I'm sure you don't want to figure that out."

"I will figure out where you are hiding and I will come and personally stop you."

"I'm sure you will Robin." He said dryly. "Until next time." Through the screen, Slade gave a courteous wave. "Oh, and Robin," Slade pushed a button on his armchair. "You may want to consider getting a new apartment."

The video paused and a countdown from ten started in bright red letters. Dick ran towards the window and jumped out through the hole carved by the drone into the alleyway. As Dick rolled into his fall, the countdown hit zero and rocked the alley and the entire apartment complex with a large explosion.

The blast knocked him into a wall and rained bricks down on him. He covered his face with his arms and attempted to roll to safety. Smoke was pouring from the holes in the former building and he thought he heard a siren in the distance, but he couldn't be sure. His ears were ringing.

Dick looked back up at his now burning apartment and sighed. Once again, he had to find another place to live.

T++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++t

Cyborg arose from his slumber on the common room couch at 2:03am. He had slept all day and had to spend the night's searching for a thief. Two weeks had passed since his discovery of the missing Red-X suit and he had been camped out in the tower ever since. Knowing the potential of the weapon and its red motif arsenal, Cyborg had elected to stay behind and search for the criminal.

What bothered Cyborg was calling Karla to inform him he would not be returning on time. He remembered the conversation well. The fire chief did not take his leave of absence well.

"_Goddamn it Cyborg!" Karla screamed at him through the phone._

"_I'm sorry but there is something I need to take-" Cyborg said._

"_Don't give me I'm sorry!" Karla yelled. "You said this little trip would be a quick stop and then you would be back to help here."_

"_I thought it would be!"_

"_And now you are telling me you have to track down a criminal?"_

"_Yes." Cyborg rubbed his human temple. "A weapon was stolen that is extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, a fact I can personally attest to."_

"_But what about your old teammates? They are the superheroes there now, so why not let them take care of it?" Karla pleaded._

"_They all have their hands way beyond full." Cyborg did not intend for this conversation to turn into an argument but she did not seem willing to listen. "At least, that is what I hear."_

"_That's not your job!"_

"_It is my job!" Cyborg yelled._

_Karla went quiet. She had known Cyborg could get annoyed and she knew he could get mad, but she had never seen them directed at her._

_Cyborg paused to collect his thoughts before continuing. "I have figured out what the thief after."_

"_What's that?" Karla did not seem impressed but at least she had calmed down a bit._

"_Xinothium."_

"_English, Cyborg." Karla appeared irritated._

"_It's a very rare- very dangerous chemical."_

"_I assume that means this person will use it to take over the world, am I right?"_

"_Actually, I am not so sure." Cyborg stroked his chin. "I can't say for sure right now, but after some brief reading of the weapon's diagnostics, I am pretty sure it is powered by Xinothium."_

"_And this means?"_

"_This means all I need to do is track down the source of Xinothium and catch him there."_

"_You make it seem simple." Karla had calmed down to the point where she was actually listening to the robotic teenager._

"_Don't worry, it will be." He was lying._

_On the other end of the line, Karla bit her lip and formed her words slowly. "You will come back, right?"_

"_Of course I will. I will catch this guy and come back straight away."_

"_Promise?"_

"_I do."_

Cyborg walked over to the Titans computer. Because the city had cut the island's power, he had to use his remaining powercells to opperate the super computer. Although it had taken quite a bit of effort, he had not only been able to figure out the suit was powered by Xenothium but also where he'd be able to get it.

He looked at the map on the screen. "Looks like I need to investigate a..." He read the naem slowly. "Madrigal Chemical Corp." The computer did some more processing. "And a Professor Chang."

T++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++t

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos." Raven and Terra chanted their now collective mantra together as they meditated, with Raven levitating as usual and Terra resting a floating piece of concrete.

While her mentor admitted that she still had a long way to go until she was truly in control, Terra had progressed enough that they had relocated closer to the city in the abandoned Paper Mill. While it lacked many standard amenities, it was warmer and water resistant than their previous abode and was also free to stay in.

"Raven?"

Raven opened one eye and looked sideways at Terra. "Yes?"

"You know, we've been doing a lot of training recently. _A lot_ of training."

"We have." Raven closed her eyes again.

"Well, I was just thinking, maybe we could go do something fun."

Raven sighed when she heard this. She was aware they had both been putting in a lot of work recently and was sensing that Terra was either growing bored, anxious or some combination of the two.

"I know of a good carnival not too far from here. And I'm sure you know lots of cool things to do in the city. Even something small, like mini-golf."

Raven gently landed on the ground. "Look Terra..." Terra's concrete slab set itself down as well. "I- I don't know."

"Aw come on Raven!" Terra pleaded. "Don't you want to do something fun too? Do you not like fun?"

"Please Terra, enough." Raven said exasperated. "We are not doing anything like that until we have control. It just not safe for either of us."

Terra stood up and took a step back. "Oh, I see. Well, that's cool." There was a hint of hurt in her voice, with small cracks. "I understand."

Raven took to her feet as well. "Terra, I need to go into town and buy some things."

Terra cocked her head. "At this time of night?"

"Don't worry, I won't be long." Raven said. "You should get some sleep."

Terra forced a smile. "Alright."

She walked away towards the exit, but stopped and turned back to Terra. "Maybe soon though. Maybe we can do something fun."

Terra looked up from the ground and flashed another smile, more genuine this time. "Thanks Raven."

T++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++t

Beast Boy had spent nearly every day and every night since his meeting with Brother Blood shadowing HIVE students. Now that he was aware of the Ion Amplifier, he needed to find the corresponding weapon and stop it from being completed.

If the Ion Amplifier could do what Blood said than it could be catastrophic for the city if left in the hands of the psychotic professor.

The student he was currently following was a walking cloner by the name of Billy Numerous. Light on brain cells and heavy on drawl, the changeling did not think highly of the villain. Of all the people he'd followed, Numerous had taken the fewest safety precautions and lead him up to an observatory on a mountain overlooking the city with a cartload of a mysterious cargo from Blood himself.

In mouse form, Beast Boy scampered in to the door way where one Numerous spoke to the receiver while several others unloaded the crates. "Yeehaw! Delivery for Professor Chang finished."

Beast Boy looked around the observatory. There were barrels of chemicals littering the floor and in the center of the room was a large telescope.

The so-called Professor Chang was a short, wide man in a chemical-safe jump suit and an odd scientific looking mask with red lens covering his face. "Tell Blood that I'll be finished soon. If he wants to keep this partnership going, he'll need to keep up his end of the deal."

"Uh yeah, sure, Sir." Numerous stammered. "Will do."

"Be sure to." Chang smirked. "Ion Amplifier aside, I don't think your headmaster would like if this Disintegrator Cannon was pointed at him."

T+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++t

Raven grabbed the brown grocery bag and left the store. She had canned food, her herbal tea, three gallons of drinking water and more white gas fuel for their cooking stove. She exited the store and began walking through the parking lot back to the mill.

She suddenly stopped, and felt a chill run down her spine. She leapt out of the way as a small explosive landed where she was standing and blew up, knocking her back several feet.

She looked up and saw the familiar face of Robin.

"How dare you Raven." Robin growled. He drew another explosive and threw it at her, however this time she was able to shield herself in time.

"Robin, what are you talking about?" Raven yelled at her old teammate.

Robin took out his bo-staff. "You making the wrong decision." He jumped at Raven and engaged her in combat.

A/N: Hey guys... so it's been about two years. Sorry.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

A Diamond in the Rough

Robin had caught Raven off guard, which was how he was able to gain the upper-hand in their fight early on, however, it was her confusion that her old friend was attacking her that allowed him to maintain it.

The empath dropped her grocery bags and created a shield to block the barrage of bo-staff attack Robin was throwing at her. The marital artist may have had superior training but Raven continued to spy for an opening. With each step he advanced, his footing changed until eventually, he switched his balance to his other foot, paused for only moment, which allowed Raven to strike.

She thrust her arm forward, forcing his attacker back several yards onto his back. Robin grimaced.

"Robin! Talk to me! Why are you-" She ducked as he threw a bird-a-range but only to regain her position to find a kick directed at her stomach.

She fell back, caught herself on her left arm and retaliated with an assault of black energy. Surprisingly, as this happened, Raven felt it curious that the strain in her arm hurt more than the kick. She ignored this sensation. "Why are you doing this?"

Robin twirled his bo-staff and formed a fighting stance, prepared for a second bout of combat. "You're not fooling me Raven- you're Slade's new apprentice."

He threw a freeze disc at Raven, which she enveloped in mysticism and destroyed before it ever reached its target.

"What?!" Raven could not believe the accusation. "No, I'm not!"

"Don't lie!" Robin body checked her and knocked her to the pavement. He pointed his staff against her, effectively pinning the empath to the ground. "It doesn't have to be this way Raven. I was Slade's apprentice once too. I got out. You can too."

"I'm not working with Slade!" She yelled.

Raven's eyes turned dark and she smashed the bo-staff into shards and blew Robin back using them.

Robin faced his ex-teammate. "So where have you been these past few months? Beast Boy is fighting crime. Cyborg is fighting fire. Where have you been?"

"Robin, please understand, I've been-"

He cut her off. "Raven, please. Whatever he's telling you, it's a lie. He manipulates people to get what he wants. You don't need to be a part of it."

"I'm not!" Raven yelled. "I've been training Terra!"

"Who?" Robin lowered his weapon. "Who's Terra?"

T+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++T

Terra sat cross legged, meditating in the abandoned paper mill. Raised up high on a levitating stone she used most of her concentration keeping the rock elevated and level. As she went deeper into her own head, she extended her control to smaller stones raising them as well.

Feeling what Raven had taught her, she tried to find peace and calm in her surroundings. Focused on what she was capable of, she raised all the stones up into the air made them circle her- it was rhythmic and elegant.

She opened her eyes to see what she'd done and smiled to herself. Under Raven's teachings she continued to impress herself everyday.

The floor shook and Terra's smile faded. Her levitating rock fell to the ground knocking all of her pride out too. Perhaps it was too soon to celebrate. She thought to herself, "Raven's techniques work but they work slow."

She dusted herself off and started to clean the small mess she had made. As she moved her sleeping back out of the way, she stopped and heard a set of foot steps coming her way.

"Raven?" No answer. The footsteps came closer.

Terra grabbed her flashlight and pointed it into the dark where the sound came from. Nothing.

"Raven, is this some kind of joke?" She waited for a response. She mumbled to herself, "because you're not being funny..."

The footsteps stopped. Terra squinted, trying to see anything in the dark. She shouted into the dark, her voice more menacing this time, "Show yourself now! I can be very dangerous if you don't!"

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder accompanied by a deep, grainy voice. "Little girl, you are very dangerous every day of your life."

Terra jumped forward in fear, dropping her flashlight. She turned to face the voice. It belonged to a tall, well built man with a mask that only showed one eye. She recognized him from stories Raven had told.

"You- you're Slade." She said.

The man took a step forward. "Yes Terra. I've been waiting a long time to speak with you alone."

T++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++T

Cyborg entered the observatory and immediately felt a chill run through the human parts of his body. He let out a deep breathe and, sure enough, he could see it. He shuddered. Although he was here with peacefully intentions, Robin had not left notes about the nature of this Professor. Chang, he was cautious, just to be safe.

He made his way into the central chamber, he noticed the room filled with all sorts of crates and barrels, all marked with red labels to indicate their unstable nature. The room was dominated by a large telescope, easily the largest Cyborg had ever seen, covered in a large clothe. He assumed it was under construction or receiving repairs.

As he took a few more steps into the room, he heard the faintest of clatters in the distance followed by what sounded like a curse word, although Cyborg could not be sure. Figuring it was Chang, he went that direction.

Cyborg came around the bottom of the telescope and was instantly knocked back by a red laser. Focusing on where it came from, he realized it was the man, who was only a few feet in front of him.

He readied a second shot, but this time Cyborg was prepared. The blast came but Cyborg side-stepped out of the way, grabbed the firearm and grabbed the man by the top of his white-rubber suit.

"Please- I swear, it's not my fault!" The man stammered. "It wasn't my idea."

Cyborg put the man down, worried he gave off the wrong impression. "Relax man, whoever you're expecting, it's not me. I'm not here to hurt you."

Chang relaxed, although not completely. "S-so... why are you here? You're one of those Teen Titans, right?"

"Was." He said flatly. "And I want to know if you've sold Xenothium, recently."

"Does the good little boy need more dangerous toys?" He said with a cackle.

"Wouldn't know; Robin and I are not affiliated anymore."

"Shame." The professor sighed. "And no, Xenothium has been illegal for a very long period of time, and any suppliers there were skipped town months ago."

"So it would be impossible for anyone to get their hands on?" Cyborg said hopefully.

"I wouldn't say that." Cyborg took a step closer to Chang, but said nothing. "There's a tech company on the south end. Legend has it they keep a generous supply of Xenothium ore locked up in their vault. It's not for sale and locked up tight. You'd have to steal it."

Cyborg took a step back from the older man. "I'm not interested, thank you." He walked over to one of the crates and put a hand on it. "This wouldn't be Xenothium, would it?"

This prompted Chang to start a long, uncomfortable, forced laugh. "Haha, no, of course not." He gave an equally forced smile.

"Lucky you. I'm trying to catch a guy trying to steal some." He walked off.

Once Cyborg had his back turned Chang's smile disappered and he said under his breathe. "Steal Xenothium from me. I would love to see them try."

T+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++T

"Raven, I don't understand!" Robin shouted at his ex-teammate, "Who is Terra?"

"She's a girl- with earth powers. I've been training her all these past months since we split." Raven said dusting herself off from the fight. "I don't understand why you thought I was working for Slade."

Robin didn't exactly know how to respond. "He- he told-"

Raven cut him off. "He told you? Why would you believe anything he told you?"

"Implied it would be a better word!"

Raven began to pace. "He must have wanted us to fight..."

"Excuse me?"

Raven ignored Robin. "He must have wanted us to fight-" She cut herself off and looked at Robin. "-so he could hurt Terra!"

Robin re-focused. "Where is she now?"

"The old paper mill!" The two did not mince further words and started as fast as they could to get to Terra.

T+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++T

Terra spun around and faced the masked man. He began walking forwards her, weilding a long metal staff. She stepped back away from the advancing Slade.

She threw her hands out in front of her and sent a barrage of stone his direction. He easily spun his staff to block them out of the way.

"What do you want from me?" She yelled.

"I want to talk to you." He said, "I want what's best for you."

"What would you know about what's best for me?" She attacked again by sending a larger stone. He vaulted over it and threw a punch directly at her gut. She winced and fell backward.

"I know all about it." Slade spoke slowly and clearly. "I've been watching you for some time. I know all your secrets. I can help you."

"No!" She yelled. She threw a punch at Slade, but he easily dodged it and grabbed her wrist.

"Earthquakes, avalanches, mudslides." She tried to pull away but Slade held her close to him. "Everywhere you go you try to do good and everywhere you fail. You lack control Terra and when you lose control you are more dangerous than anything I have ever seen." He released her and took a step back. "But it doesn't need to be that way. I can help you."

Terra looked more attentive. "You can? Raven has been-"

"You've been working for months under her. Doing it her way. What has it gotten you?" He took another step closer to her. "A fissure downtown and a hoard of fearful people." He was nearly next to her again. "You can do better than that Terra. I can give you something she can't."

A loud explosion rocked the building as Robin and Raven forced their way in. Robin held his bo-staff and Raven stood ready to attack.

Raven shouted to Terra, "Terra, we'll get you out of there! We'll help you!"

Slade looked Terra in the eye. "Listen to me, child. If you truly want control, I am the only way."

"No." Terra said confidently. "What you're offering me isn't control. It's fear. Fear of myself." She looked directly at Raven and said, "No matter what you say or what you do, you will never convince me."

Slade noticed this eye contact between the girls and turned to look Raven in the eye. "Alright Terra, I believe you." And in one swift motion, Slade twisted the handle of his staff to reveal a long, slender blade and without looking away from Raven, stabbed Terra in the chest.

Raven's mind went blank. She wanted to attack Slade. She knew she should. But all the times her powers flared due to anger, now she had nothing.

Robin, on the other hand, was not paralyzed. He withdrew a disc from his belt and threw it at Slade, who easily avoided it. Within moments, he had ducked into the shadows, out of sight with Robin in quick pursuit.

Raven ran up to Terra and craddled her head into her lap. She looked at her student- her friend- and waited for her to say something. But there was nothing. Terra was gone.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Does this push the rating to an M?


End file.
